Aurora, Wayward Pt. 05

She nodded, "Alright." She kissed his cheek and walked out. She stopped at the door, "You disappointed in my MA numbers?"

He knew she was at 178. He shook his head, "No, you will be at or over 200 soon enough."

She looked at him, "Really?"

He nodded, "I am at 275 but they did not have a base number for me. Freia is behind me and with the implants, which we are still experimenting with that connected to Aurora. Freia was 210 before and is at 270 now."

She rolled her eyes, "You're going to pump me full of information until my head explodes."

Rocan laughed, "Aurora will do that; likely with subliminal learning."

She stopped, "Hybrids don't sleep."

He shook his head, "They can but they can go without. To rebuild your energy reserves from using a lot of mental powers it helps."

---

It took 4 hours for Wira to arrive with Kinna as they had already gotten some distance away and she had to deal with rescheduling some people. They left orbit 8 hours later than originally planned. Aurora met them in the shuttle bay, "Freia, you can take us to Drisen now."

Wira looked shocked, "I have a firm to run! I had not planned on being gone more than a day."

She nodded, "We confirmed cross-contamination occurs. Your new shuttle is right over there. I had them build it on the ship. That is why it does not have a black coating. It is made from metallic hydrogen. Your current shuttle will end up recycled. It is toxic."

Wira rolled her eyes and checked out the new shuttle. Aurora gave her a 3 hour tutorial on the vessel. It was larger by being longer and taller. Wira sighed, "This has point defense lasers?!"

She nodded, "You can shrink the rings, lower the lasers, or heaven forbid, turn it off. Given that one lawyer out there calling you a freak, it will only get worse for a while. History on Terra. Planet bound Hybrids became prime targets for some extremists. Your vehicle is a target without those.

You can have it scan your home for explosives, where you are looking to land. Those will occur automatically as the ship determines where you are located. If you are within 1,000 kilometers of your home, you can scan it. Increase your security. We can send Sentinels down to do your home and office if needed.

We have an office set up for you. We have 5 of you to detox and 2 are in Drisan. Married couple. The Engineer is the one he is looking at for the council. I could put a couple of marines aboard to guard your shuttle."

She shook her head, "No, I will find the right settings. Security for home and office I will consider. How long will I be gone?"

Aurora smiled 7-8 days. Best guess."

She groaned, "Show me this office."

She walked her into the office and it was two-rooms wide but the desk and backdrop looked like her desk in Pena. She looked over as Aurora spoke, "In case you wanted to work from here. He made it look as much like your other office as he could from the images we captured. He also had one of the destroyers set this way in case we have to leave one behind for you to work from for now."

She nodded, "I will need a second desk in here for Kinna with a terminal. She can help funnel things. I have 2 court dates I need to move and a new client I am supposed to meet in 2 days. He called me right before I left work yesterday. Chesen Parka, works for some inventor he claimed. He talked about my efforts on your behalf a lot."

Aurora did a quick check and shook her head, "I have found no public profile for a person with that name in any colony."

Wira went and contacted him. Aurora back-traced the connection while watching from the side and outside of the camera's arc. The man smiled, "I had not expected to hear from you so soon."

She nodded, "I got called away on urgent business in the Drisan system. I should be back in 8 to 9 days."

He nodded, "Understood. You need to reschedule."

She sighed, "Else we could do it over comms."

He shook his head, "Discussion better done in person. How are you breaking quarantine?"

She smiled, "By getting decontaminated en route. Home Guard is providing transportation."

He smiled, "Then again when you leave that world. Still, they are the fastest ship for getting out there, doing business, and getting back in 9 days is impressive. We can arrange a meeting time when you are certain you will arrive."

Aurora stood there with her eyes glowing red. Wira looked over, "What is wrong?"

She sighed, "Fake name and office in that gun manufacture building, Tracoron Weapons. According to public records and facial recognition, he is Derrik Fell. I ran scans on your condo. The entire building. The condo below was rented with a fictitious name right after we took Vivian into protective custody. They appear to have loaded it with explosives. Enough to level the building; if not more.

Aurora looked over and got her eyes out of battle mode, she called up the Security Service contact she had from the Governor's office. He looked over, "You are Aurora."

She nodded, "I am standing here with our lawyer. She mentioned a potential client name that had no public profile anywhere. She contacted him and it traced back to that same weapons manufacturer."

He held up a hand, "Stop. Anything you say after that might get thrown out of court."

She nodded, "The second item for you then. I went and ran a security scan checking for explosives. The condo right below hers is being turned into an explosives warehouse. Is that area zoned for the storage of explosives? We have her and we are on our way to Drisan. Consider that second one an anonymous tip. The names are not the same. Both fictitious, but you will figure it all out."

The Security Services guy got on with a local judge. He looked over, "I called in to try and get a warrant to search that apartment for explosives based upon an anonymous tip. The judge told me we need more proof."

She nodded, "Bomb dog. Sweep the building. Bomb threat."

The man chuckled and contacted the local police chief. He finally looked back over, "They will take a dog through the building halls. I will call you back."

---

Two hours later and he called back, "They found nothing just walking the halls." She checked again. "That is because It is made with that Zirtosium and sulfur. Enough extra sulfur to use the building's structure to blow up a 2,000 km area. Not counting any secondary explosions."

She sat down next to Rocan, "Get the governor connected in."

She tried and ended up with all five of them. He groaned out and thought, * Let me handle this. *

He smiled at the governor, "We have an issue for you to work. Wira was supposed to meet with a prospective client in 2 days who said he was a representative for an inventor and had some patent work he wanted to be handled by her.

Aurora had run that name through public records of all 5 colonies and it had no signature whatsoever. Fake name. She took the face and ran it through facial recognition and got a hit on a Derrik Fell who is a contract mercenary."

The Pena governor held up a hand, "Hold it right there. Are you planning any action at the moment?"

He shook his head, "Headed to Drisan right now, Wira is aboard. Before we left orbit, Aurora ran a scan of the building of Wira's Condo for explosives. She found a warehouse of it in the condo right below Wira's Condo.

It is made of Zirtosium. We did not discuss in public what that metal could be used for. One item it can be used for is explosives when combined with sulfur. There are barrels of sulfur with Zirtosium. With the structure of that building and every building within 2,000 km of that building made of the same metal; you are looking at a very large crater in your major upscale neighborhoods.

That is close enough to affect your home Governor. The lease was put in place after we took someone in protective custody. The Security Services people do not want to know how Aurora learned of this client by the backtrace. However; I have a very large file on this individual from the Risan system.

For work that they have done for them and work they believe might have been caused by his hand. I am sending it to you Governor. Some of those actions are only a few years old. The man likes kidnapping, extortion, and the use of explosives. Zirtosium and sulfur-based explosives.

The file from a facial recognition search against a colony that is not in the Home Guard would be legal for us. Given what is in that file and who he wanted to meet with; I would say a simple direct scan at one of our hybrids homes for explosives would be warranted.

Now I am going to drop from this call so you and the other governors can discuss this matter and your Security Services man gets guidance on how to proceed with this very volatile and political situation. We should be back in 9 days at the latest. In time for the meeting, you asked us to attend."

The governor was about to say something when Aurora killed the link. "I actually sent it to all of the Governors."

He rolled his eyes.

---

The governor's meeting quickly escalated into pandemonium when the Risen Governor looked over, "I did not authorize this person to do anything in any of your systems. I will get answers!"

She dropped from the call. She contacted the Spartan and Got Lieutenant Troy with his wife sitting in his lap. He smiled at the woman, "Can I help you?"

She sighed, "Looks like he runs a very loose ship to have two people fraternizing at his comms terminal. I am the Governor of Risen, Paula Traska."

He nodded, "This is my wife Fiona. She had some fabricator parts running in engineering and had a few minutes to come and see me. We have not been married long."

She looked at him, "Males cannot get married."

He smiled, "Wrong race. We are both Sentinels. It is legal for us to marry as we cannot biologically reproduce. Who did you wish to speak with?"

She sighed, "Rocan Spartan."

He heard back from Aurora and he looked at her, "Is this all the governors again or just you. He is another meeting and needs to know if this is going to be a major shouting match. If so, he will contact you personally in that channel. If not, He can find a few minutes to talk with you."

She looked, "How do you know that?"

He smiled, "I am a Sentinel. I sent an electronic message to Aurora who is in this meeting she asked him and it was relayed back. We have a lot of non-verbal communication options on this ship."

She sighed. "Put me through. It is just me."

He put her through. He had his uniform shirt on and sat in his chair with all of the ladies scattered around the room. The image came up with just his head and shoulders. She sighed, "That is the first I have seen of that file!"

He nodded, "We know that. We were trying to stop an explosion in a major part of the largest city in her colony. She wanted to work those things through the city. I gave her the rundown of how we confirmed who he was. We know who used his services in your system and it gets into politics. I will not address politics.

If you look at the file sent to you would find enough information to launch your own private investigation into the matter. Look at all the page headers through the file. I would like to help you more with this, but I believe Aurora gave you the bomb to blow the lid off what others are doing. I have Governor Nanci Creu trying to contact me and I do need to speak with her as she is signed into the treaty. Good luck with your investigation."

Governor Nanci Creu, showed up on the screen as he disconnected from the other call. She looked across, "This is quite the mess you left me with."

He nodded, "I did not say we would not help you, but you have to authorize what you want us to do. You told us you wanted to use your people, using warrants, and your system. They are likely awaiting her return. She did not stay at her apartment last night. She was at a sleepover if you will."

The Pena Governor chuckled, "If she had been, we would not be having this conversation. You would be looking for a new lawyer."

He nodded, "You would likely have been injured or killed as well. The gloves would have come off as I searched for the bastard. We told the man with his fake ID we would be back in 9 days.

I have a contingent of 15 marines trained in bomb disposal ready to assist. If you wanted us to locate the subject Aurora could find him. Your Security Services were not interested in the location from where he operated.

This right now is tied to two of my hybrids. One is a candidate in protective custody and we have reason to suspect they are linked. But we cannot take action without the courts authorizing the action. I sent one of my destroyers back with our Stealth shuttle inside of it. It has the marines. No hybrid involvement.

Might I suggest a joint Sentinel marine and local law enforcement investigation of Wira's apartment with her consent? They can find things your people could not. We know where the package is. We don't know where or what the trigger is because she did not do a detailed scan. She found explosives and reported it because of its proximity to our lawyer. That destroyer has sensors and she can work through her Sentinels on that ship to direct action if called upon."

She sighed, "How would you handle this?"

He smiled, "I ask Wira to let me send in a few marines to do a security review of her condo. They find anything they would alert your local police. That bomb could kill 80,000 lives. We just need to know what you wish to do?"

She looked over and expanded her screen as she talked with the Attorney General. He looked over, "If your marines want to do a security check of her apartment it would be permissible. She is a hybrid living in the city."

He nodded, "Wira, do we have your permission to do a security search of your condo while you are away on business?"

She sat in his lap, "I authorize the marines to do a security sweep in order to determine what security measure I might need upgraded being a hybrid."

The Attorney General sighed, "I will contact the building manager to get them access to her condo. As she is traveling but has given permission."

He ended the call, Aurora looked over the squad information, "A Squad is going down but just The Lieutenant and the Sergeant will do a cursory scan and then a detailed scan of the room."

He looked over, "Tour or your law office? Not getting into your records."

She nodded, "Send a couple."

She sent a message to the office.

---

The marines landed out in front of the building. The two marines walked inside while the others took off. At the entrance, they found the building manager as the man at the desk did not know what to do.

He came down and waved them over and took them up to her condo. The building manager looked inside, "Looks like she is a neat freak. The two marines stood fast and did a spectral scan of her home. The man asked, "What are you waiting for?"

The marine looked at the man with glowing red eyes, "Your local bomb squad."

He held out a pad. "We started with a spectral scan of the room. 182 lasers are coming from the floor to small reflectors in the ceiling. There are 28 slight indentations of the same shape below her carpeting. Likely pressure sensors. The room is a kill box and is armed. We have contacted local law enforcement. We have probable cause for the apartment below once they see these scans. We can do an orbital detailed scan as soon as we have permission."

---

Aurora's eyes went red, "Her apartment is a kill box. The bomb squad is on the way."

Wira shook her head, "Aurora said I would be in danger down there from any extremists."

He nodded, "They want our new candidate and the governor put a protection order for 30 days to us. Who handles our legal issues?"

She groaned out, "How do I fix that?"

He sighed, "One thing at a time."

---

The second unit arrived at her office building. Sergeant Greg and Corporal Chevi. They were there within seconds and walked into the building to a bunch of shocked people. They took the elevator up to the appropriate floor. Every floor it stopped on they had people who decided to wait for the next elevator. Except for one man. He looked at the 2 of them, "Serving a warrant?"

The Sergeant looked at him, "No. Wira Kel has offices here. We are doing a security sweep and assessment of her office location. This is in regards to some Home Guard Activity. Nefarious elements in your society might target her.

We are here to see if any security measures could be applied to aid in her protection and wellbeing. We are just doing the assessment today. Other Sentinels would be brought in to institute any security measures."

The man asked, "That is why you do not have weapons out."

He nodded at the man then followed it up with. "Nodding is yes. Side to side is a no. It comes from your Terran ancestors as a form of non-verbal communication."

The man smiled, "Yes is simpler."

He looked over, "Not when doing an extraction with no voice comms and using hand signals to relay information from scouts. Our leaders then assign a course of action because communications are being jammed or we are ordered to run silently. We are required to be versed in several forms of communication. From accessing networks, uplinks, verbal, and non-verbal."

The man simply nodded back at the sergeant and got off on the 39th floor. They had to sweep floors 40-42; she had a large office space set up for expansion with the caseload coming in from Home Guard activity alone.

They started at the top where her private office was located. It was clear of pressure plates and bombs. They did pause again as they were getting ready to step out of the office.

They left her office into a more concealed location. They placed a monitoring device down and contacted local law enforcement. He looked at the captain in charge of SWAT type activities. He was shocked to see the Sentinels. He cleared his throat, "You are one of the AI marines?"

The Sergeant responded, "Sentinel Marines of the Home Guard, Sergeant Greg. We are in the process of doing a security sweep and assessment. We are sending you our current address and then the address and floor numbers from the adjacent buildings. We counted 8 laser-sights being used to sweep her office. The office of Wira Kel. They are coming from 4 floors, in each of 2 buildings."

The Corporal nodded to the Sergeant. "The sites appear to be automated. This means we would need warrants to backtrace their communication to the location they are being run from. Sending you a copy of our personal surveillance to show you the infra-red beams. They sweep the office once every minute.

They are logically looking for facial recognition of their target. We could confirm by deploying a recon AI who looked like Wira Kel. We would require her permission and if any of those sights are connected to RPG's instead of sniper rifles it would be rather explosive."

The Captain took the information and contacted the local District Attorney who contacted the judge to get the search warrant in question. He signed off on them. The warrants came through, the ship scanned the offices and sections. They back-traced the encrypted communication links through three dummy sites and then to a Tracoron Weapons office on the 4th floor, occupied by Derrik Fell.

He looked at the Captain, "The sites are automated. Three in each building are sniper positions. The fourth is an RPG unit. Offices are unmanned but they are boobytrapped. Four pressure sensitive mines on the floor within each.

A laser monitoring if the door is opened into the room 4 surveillance cameras in each office at each corner have also traced back. Two to that same location, one to a mobile device that is in transit from the second location. His home, we believe, it is leased by Tracoron Weapons, for the last location.