Sword of Minerva (The Guild Wars Book 10) by Mark Wandrey (great books for teens TXT) 📕

planet even know exists. I’m taking a hell of a risk being here right now. I have to say, you don’t look a year older.”

“And you don’t look like you’re 90, which is the minimum age you’d have to be to have known me 60 years ago.” Sato tried to play it as cool as he could. He’d already found out he was over a hundred, so something happening 60 years ago was no surprise. Yet, here was another Human who, like him, appeared to have found the fountain of youth.

“You should know, we helped perfect the treatment Ezekiel Avander invented. You brought it as proof of your ability to help Section 51.”

Sato shook his head. None of it sounded familiar. “I’m sorry.”

“So were we, because you copied all our files, nuked half our database, and disappeared. Now you turn up 60 years later acting like you have amnesia. What the fuck, Taiki?”

“Something happened to me,” he said helplessly. “I’m trying to find out what it was.”

“Those files you destroyed, they really hurt us,” she said, taking a step forward. She lowered her voice. “I had orders to kill you on that train when you showed up on our monitors. The fucking alien invasion, all the destruction, humanity on the brink of the abyss. God damn it, Taiki, we might have stopped it all if you hadn’t…”

“I don’t understand,” Sato said. “I-I’m sorry if I did something wrong.” He hung his head. “I don’t remember any of it.”

“Someone really screwed you up,” she said. “My pinplants have a basic lie detector feature, monitoring your bio-signs. You haven’t spoken single lie. You’re highly agitated, but I always had that effect on you.”

He gave a little laugh and felt his cheeks warm. “Were we ever…”

“Intimate? No. Not for lack of interest on my part. You had someone before, or maybe during. I don’t know, but whoever she was, she already had your heart.”

* * *

He held her in his arms, vainly attempting to stop the flow of bright red arterial blood from a gaping chest wound. “Ichika, no!”

* * *

“Ichika,” he said, then spat. “I don’t even really remember her, either.”

Adrianne’s face frowned. “You paid a price higher than I could extract.” She dropped a tiny needle to the concrete and stepped on it. “I’ll probably catch hell for this. Oh, well.” She reached into a pocket, and Rick moved. “Easy, Æsir,” she said, and pulled out a tiny cylinder.

“His name is Rick,” Sato explained.

“Rick Culper, Winged Hussars?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“I didn’t, and he’s supposed to be dead,” she replied.

“That’s going around a lot,” Sato said.

She laughed and nodded, holding out the cylinder. “This will allow you to find me again if you ever want to catch up on old times.”

Sato looked down and saw it was an ultra-secure data device. He put it in a pocket.

She gently touched his cheek. “I hope you find closure out there, old friend.” She turned and walked back toward her car.

“Hey!” Rick called from the side. Joey glared at him, but Adrianne looked his way.

“Yeah?”

“You’re some kinda super-secret squirrel. Can you help Jim Cartwright?”

“Why do you care about him?” she asked.

“He was my best friend growing up. I’d try to help him myself, but I have other commitments.”

She nodded slowly. “Funny you should say that. I’ll see what I can do.” She continued toward the car.

Joey, her big bodyguard, glared at Rick for a moment. “Some other time, tinman.”

“Anytime,” Rick replied.

Joey gave a single grunt, either an acknowledgment or a laugh; Sato couldn’t tell. Then he joined Adrianne in the car, and the two drove away, leaving the F11 cylinders behind.

“Let’s get these aboard and get the hell out of here,” Rick said.

Sato nodded, watching the car go. He felt a strange, sad sensation as it disappeared from view. He followed Rick inside, sealed the hatch, and raised the ramp.

“One thing you should know,” Rick said.

“Yes?”

“I don’t think the black guy was entirely Human.”

“You mean he was an alien?”

“No,” Rick said. “He radiated multiple energy signatures, and his skin was too dense for radar to penetrate.”

Sato stared at Rick, the culmination of the most advanced technology in the galaxy that he’d had access to and slowly blinked. Maybe there was more in Heaven and Earth than he’d dreamt of.

* * * * *

Chapter Three

Rick wished Sato had considered crewing the ship. It had originally been designed for a crew of 19, though after refitting from a corvette to a courier, the crew requirement was reduced to nine. There were only two of them.

“Crew positions are more of a suggestion than a rule,” Sato said as he settled into the pilot’s couch. They’d adjusted all the bridge position seats to Human ergonomic requirements. Once again, the Izlian universality aided them. The previous owners must have been at least partly humanoid.

“Suggestions?” Rick asked, glancing around the bridge. There were four seats for the pilot/captain, copilot/navigator, engineer/weapons officer, and comms/computer. The other five positions were elsewhere in the ship. “I think these four seats alone on the bridge says otherwise.”

“Sure, sure. But you forget, I’ve designed starships for a long time. We’re not going to war.”

“You don’t think so?”

Sato shot him a look, and Rick chuckled in reply. “All we have to do is fly to orbit and set course for the stargate. Easy. As we go, I’ll write automation subroutines and a couple simple AIs.”

“I thought AIs were illegal,” Rick replied.

“It’s complicated.” Rick rolled his eyes and Sato continued, “We’ll get Dakkar to help on a station once we get into space.”

“When did he learn to run a starship?”

“He didn’t; Nemo did. A long time ago.”

Rick nodded. He wasn’t encouraged