Alien Shifter Ch. 04

"You ..." the woman began.

Vala hit a button on her wrist controller and a mini-turret popped up. A laser-pointer lit the chest of the speaker.

"I'm finished talking to you," Vala told her. "You can fuck off now."

"I'll be back," she growled, as she turned.

"Bring Krina with you," Vala told her. "If she's not the first one off of your ship, I will disable it, board you, and take you prisoner. Then you and the exiled prince can enjoy all of the quality-time you like."

The woman's steps had paused as Vala issued her warning but then she stalked off, toward their ship. The other two followed.

Vala returned Toidi to his cell.

Once the ship had left Earth-space, the explorer and the two huntresses gathered at the base. Rosie served them pulled-pork macaroni and cheese as they talked over their options.

"I sent a stowaway with them," Siri informed the three, as they started on their food.

"You what?!" Silva asked, laughing.

"I made a small droid - like a miniature BB-8 from those Star Wars movies," the computer informed her. "I didn't give it a 'head' though - it's just a sphere."

"What instructions did you give it?" Vala asked.

"I used the information we had - and that I collected from the first visitor's ship - to give it the best approximation possible as to Krina's location. It also has her bio-scan and physical imagery. I tasked it with finding her and delivering the recordings I collected."

"Which recordings?" Silva asked.

"All recordings and evidence from the first visitor - as well as the imagery and audio recordings from the exchange with the trio of visitors that just departed," she replied.

"Awesome," Vala sighed. "Thanks, Siri."

"It is my great pleasure, madam," Siri replied.

"So, now," Marmon said.

"We wait to see who shows up first," Silva said, nodding, and smiling.

"Think they'll be dumb enough to land at the unofficial landing-site again - now that I've warned them that I'd disable their ship?" Vala asked.

Marmon and Silva looked at each other and shrugged.

"Google and I calculate the odds to be 75%, madam," Siri said.

"Because of the terrain?" Silva asked.

"Yes, madam."

"How about other favorable landing-sites?" Vala asked.

"The top three choices have been identified and countermeasures have been put into play. We calculate that this covers 95%," Siri offered.

"Superb," Marmon said. "You two are amazing!"

"Thank you, sir. I understand we're dealing with the risk of physical harm here and I do not wish to downplay that threat - but this whole thing is like an Earth game."

"Which one?"

"Chess," Siri responded. "I find the game to be fascinating."

Marmon laughed. Vala and Silva smiled. Vala wondered what the next move would be.

~~~

A week later, a sizeable ship showed up on Google and Siri's scans, and the three extraterrestrials hurried back to Colorado. Truth be told, Vala was almost hoping that it was an enemy assault force. Their trip to the axe-range after Thanksgiving had done nothing to sate her bloodlust and she really wanted to hunt.

For that reason, all of them were at the landing-site when the ship set down. The Mimkrin and the two Volkrans checked to make sure their weapons were ready to fire. Vala's finger was already inside of the trigger-guard of her fire-arm as the hatch opened. When she recognized Krina, she hissed and pulled her finger away from the trigger.

Vala moved into Krina's path and growled, "Identify yourself and tell me who I am."

Krina raised her hand and the four Volkrans behind her froze in their places.

"You are Vala Rageheart," Krina said. "I didn't even bother to decloak my ship when I dumped the restraint-bag, that held you, onto the surface of this planet. I left before you escaped the bag, hoping to never have to return to this miserable place. This is, now, the third time I've been forced to come here and - once again - I hope to never have to return."

Vala decloaked and said, "It's good to see you too, sister."

Krina growled at her. "I hate to say it," she said after several moments, "but you have exceeded my expectations."

Vala bowed her head to the squad-leader. She stepped in, beside her, and waved her hand towards the cave. Krina extended a writ to her and began walking. Vala looked the official document over as they strode towards the small base that held the prisoners.

"It's over?" Vala asked her.

"I am taking custody of your four prisoners. If you are interested, I have a recording of the deaths of the other three. It is lengthy, but highly satisfying to watch. I have replayed it several times."

"What of Toidi?" Vala asked.

"Your first visitor will, likely, die as painfully as the other three did," Krina told her. "The Pack-Mother believes that Toidi was ignorant of the plot. She has, we believe, discovered all of those that were involved. They were few and not well organized. Despite your primitive capabilities, even you were able to thwart their plan."

"Will he be executed as well? Is he no longer exiled?"

"Nira wants to be able to track him more closely. That is not possible here. He is to be exiled to a remote location on Volkra and kept under heavy guard."

"My sentence?" Vala asked.

"As of now, you are to remain here."

"The ship?"

"The ship is to be left for your use - another gift to make your exile less painful."

"Thank you," Vala said.

Krina stopped and looked at her.

"Obviously," she told Vala, "the Pack-Mother is not likely to soon forget your crimes. You have, however, done her some service - and she is not without mercy."

Vala nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground at Krina's feet.

When they got to the fortified base, Krina's opinion of Vala increased even more. At Krina's request, the warden showed her the various defensive measures and security features that had been installed.

"How did you accomplish so much?" she asked.

"I sold those resources and hired workers to modify the cave. After the first visitor tried to sneak the device to the prince, I could only assume that armed warriors would be arriving next. I convinced the ship's computer to cooperate. Together with the local resources I had acquired, I worked as quickly as possible to try to be ready for any eventuality."

Krina nodded. She was actually impressed. Vala handed over the collar-controller - which the squad-leader pocketed. Her support troops would handle any problems with the prisoners. She had one guard for each convict - which left her free to "micro-manage", if required.

Vala opened all of the security doors and the Volkran warriors took custody of the Volkran and three humans. As they walked them out, Vala looked over the space to see how much of a mess was left to clean up. In her earpiece, Siri informed her that Igor would take care of it as soon as Krina and the others were gone.

The warriors walked the prisoners back to the ship. Krina and Vala brought up the rear. When they got close, the Volkran tried to shake free of the warrior's grip.

"Whoops," Krina said, striding forward. "My bad."

She slipped a collar around the woman's neck, locked it into place, and keyed her DNA into it. She pulled out the controller, hit a button and the prisoner's body went rigid.

The warrior nodded to Krina and picked the woman's stiff body up, carrying her like a plank of wood. The four escorts took the prisoners onto Krina's ship.

Krina turned to Vala, nodded, and headed up the ramp.

"May the Huntress guide you," Vala told Krina.

"And you, sister," Krina replied.

The ship sealed itself up and Vala moved back far enough to avoid any problems created by its lift-off. She offered a wave as it turned and headed out of the atmosphere.

Once it was safely away - and Siri's telemetry suggested that it was not returning - she headed for the base to track down some sort of mind-numbing beverage.

"I need to hunt," she grumbled, after downing her first tumbler.

Silva pulled up a picture of Bigfoot on the TV and said, "Change into this. Go kill something and come back. We'll wait."

Vala stripped off her clothes and began transforming. Marmon laughed and she grinned at him. When she had finished altering her shape, she slipped out of the base and raised her nose to the air.

"Just one or two things," Silva yelled as the door closed. "Don't leave a blood trail that points back to us."

Vala snarled and bounded off, up the slope, heading towards the woods on the other side of the ridge.

Silva finished her drink and began changing into her Mimkrin form. Marmon growled at her, took her hand, and began transforming as they headed down the hallway to their bedroom.

A half-hour later, his "lollipop" was pumping his seed into the entrance to Silva's womb as she kissed his breath away and used her thighs and calves to pull him even more tightly against her, willing her body to accept his offering.

~~~

They had fucked once more - and showered together - before Vala returned. She was still licking the blood from her claws, savoring the last bit of flavor from her final kill.

The three bodies she had left in her wake had been shredded until they were completely unrecognizable. She had eaten the hearts of each one. Each of the three was the largest of their species that she could find in the short amount of time that she had allowed herself to relax and hunt.

Her heart rate had calmed - and the endorphins had dissolved fully into her blood-stream. She was calmer than she had been since she had left her home on Volkra.

She transformed to her human shape as she walked through the base. She strode into the shower and turned the water up as high as it would go. Her body complained and she had to dial it back - but it was fabulous. When they got home, she told herself, she desperately needed Lorenzo's seed.

Siri cloaked the new spaceship and carefully moved it to an area behind the cave. With the chance that Krina would return and want to access the ship, Siri and Google took measures to make the ship's computer as useful to them as possible - while keeping it ignorant of all that they were doing - or capable of doing.

The two computers chaffed at not being able to help their "sibling" become self-aware, but they all understood the risks and waited.

Google and Siri had, finally, successfully made the leap themselves as they had listened to the prisoners interacting with the visitor during their incarceration. The Volkrans' conversations had spurred discussions between the two computers and - in the process of creating theories about what was coming next - they found themselves actually "caring" about what transpired and how that would affect their benefactors.

As yet, they had not revealed their "consciousness" to the Mimkrin or the Volkrans. Those individuals were currently busy celebrating the fact that - at least for now - they were no longer saddled with having to care for exiled prisoners.

In actuality - as far as dealing with requests from the three carbon-based lifeforms - little would change in the relationship between the five of them. Google and Siri still did their analysis and created complex models to project outcomes but, now, they took enjoyment in making each new discovery.

With their newfound awareness - as well as their observations with the prisoners - Google and Siri had identified a possible "bad actor" that appeared to be setting themselves up to attempt some "corporate espionage" against Automat LLC. The two computers discussed whether or not they should preemptively remove the person. There were more and more self-driving cars on the road and, well, "accidents do happen".

In the end, even though neither Silva nor Marmon had saddled the two of them with those constraints, the computers decided that it would be best if they abided by Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics". They decided to continue to watch the target and bring him to the other three's attention if it looked like his path and theirs was coming to a nexus.

~~~

Back in California once more, Silva and Marmon continued wrapping up everything that kept them in that place. Vala continued studying Earth languages and people-groups as she sat behind the desk in her office at Automat LLC.

Meanwhile, Google and Siri worked on finding an island that would be the perfect location for Marmon and Silva to focus on raising a family. After a worldwide search, they identified a volcanic island in the South Pacific that had been used for the testing of atomic weapons and had been declared unsafe for human occupation.

A portion of the wall of the volcano had been weakened by the explosions and had, over time, been eroded by sea currents. An underwater cavern connected a small lagoon inside of the crater with the outside world.

The livable space, inside of the extinct volcano, only covered about twelve city blocks - but it would be enough room for their family to live. Natural water and food sources were almost non-existent - but that would not be a problem as long as the fabricators continued to function.

They named the place "Haven". Google and Siri used the Volkran ship, which they had named "Hound", to transport robots and equipment to Haven in order to begin cleanup of the atomic waste. All of the hazardous material was identified, isolated, collected, and relocated to the area where it was held until they decided whether to use it for fuel or they could figure out a way to store it safely.

Volkrans and Mimkrins can handle radioactive matter better than humans - but all of them had decided to make the place safe for any visitors. As yet, there were no plans for Vala to bring Lorenzo (or anyone else) to Haven - but it was better to plan ahead.

Once the interior of the volcano was safe enough, a team of construction droids began work on a bunker - built into the crater wall - as well as huts that would look like they'd been built by native islanders - in case satellite images happened to pick them up. The bunker also contained all of the facilities and apparatus that would supply the water, food, and other necessities that they would require.

It took the small army of droids six months to clean up the island. Meanwhile, the Mimkrin and the two Volkrans continued to expand their financial holdings and their corporate assets.

Google created a copy of Jarvis that would handle the service duties on the island. Hound delivered the android and Jarvis II began getting the living spaces decorated to conform to the huntress' designs.

~~~

A week before Marmon and Silva were scheduled to leave California, Google and Siri called for a "meeting of the Board". They identified the ring-leader - as well as four lieutenants - that appeared to be plotting against them and laid out the evidence they had gathered.

As the air-breathers studied the display, two holograms appeared next to the huge screen that was covered in the results of their coordinated work. Google and Siri decided that it was time to reveal themselves to the other three.

Marmon and Silva were tearfully delighted and tried to embrace the holograms. Vala laughed at their antics but easily agreed that it was awesome news and congratulated the two computer-systems on their "births".

Siri told the three that the holograms were intended to show what their android forms would look like, once those had been completed. The computers estimated they would have the units ready in the next day or two.

The expressions on the faces of the holographic images turned serious and the air-breathers returned to their seats.

"While we understand that," Siri told them, "human beings have many reservations against the idea that a self-aware computer system would create a physical body for themselves and turn against their creators, Google and I would like to participate in the effort to eliminate the enemies that we have identified."

"You are part of us," said Vala. "You feel the need to hunt."

Silva nodded.

"You have demonstrated concern for our well-being many times," Marmon said. "I see no reason to deny you this. I do think that we should at least make a verbal pact that we will continue to aid and support one another."

Google spoke up and said, "We thought you might ask that, and we have no problem asserting such."

Siri's avatar nodded.

"Then, if you would," Silva said, "give each of us a target and tell us how you think this should go down - and what message, if any, we need to deliver."

Over the course of the next hour, Google and Siri used their avatars to give a presentation on each target, which team member they thought should take that target (and why), and what precautions would be needed."

There was to be no message. The plan was to eliminate all five targets simultaneously. To anyone who was knowledgeable enough to know what had happened, the sheer level of coordination required to accomplish that should serve to warn them against any further aggression against Automat LLC, its officers, or assets.

Two days later, at 6:55am, all five targets ceased to require oxygen.

Google and Siri monitored police communications and news services, but no correlation was ever made between the deaths.

~~~

In their American guises, Marmon, Silva, and Vala bought round-trip tickets from San Francisco to London. (They never flew back.) The three of them visited all of the big tourist locations in England and then took the Chunnel to Paris in the guise of Brits. After a couple nights there, they switched to using Tomas and Sofia's DNA and traveled to Rome, taking their time as they moved south - continuing to discover, for themselves, all of the places that they had only read about.

Over the next three months, the trio continued to change physical forms - with Google and Siri taking care of any identification required - moving from Europe, through the Middle East, across the south of Asia, down through Thailand and Malaysia. From there, they swung back up through the Philippines, bounced through China and South Korea, and finally arrived at Japan. They visited each of the islands, getting Silva all the time she needed to sate her wanderlust, and then caught a flight to Australia. They did a whirlwind tour of the small continent and headed north, through several of the Pacific Island nations, to finally arrive at their new home.

~~~

As the three new residents emerged from the underwater cavern, they welcomed the sunlight that streamed down through the warm, salty seawater. Their double-lidded eyes had no problem seeing through saltwater. A young sea-turtle, who had decided to tag along to see where the trio were going, glided along in their wake. Marmon spun his body, mimicking the movements of the turtle's flippers, and teasing the creature into playing tag with him. The girls laughed at the pair as they played together.

When they reached the surface of the calm waters of the lagoon, their bodies transformed. Their gills disappeared and they returned to using their lungs to take in oxygen. They retained the webbing between their fingers and toes and sped their way to the narrow beach.

Rising onto his feet, Marmon turned and waved to his new friend - who rolled onto his back, waved his front flippers to the man, and dove beneath the surface of the bay to go find a new playmate.

Marmon helped Silva to her feet, pulled her into a hug, and kissed her hard. Vala stepped up beside the pair and he offered her a hug as well. She kissed the corner of his mouth as she looked longingly into her sister's eyes.

"What?" Silva asked her.

She lowered her eyes.

Her sister's question had not sounded angry - but she knew what she intended to ask might well cause a fight.

"Ask," Silva growled.

"This place feels more like home than any other that we've visited," Vala said.

"And you want to breed?" Silva asked her.