

A SMALL PLACE CALLED

SPACE

BOOK TWO: TWIN TROUBLES

A.M. Scheitlin

2019

Copyright © 2019 by A.M. Scheitlin

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

First Printing: 2019

ISBN 978-1-7328620-9-8

Citrus Heights, California 95610

Delilah was not supposed to be awake. In fact, she was not even supposed to be alive. No one in Newer Helvetia had ever survived the pestilence. The Deacon claimed it was a divine judgment, but like most of the Deacon's claims, Delilah put little faith in the statement. It was her lack of faith that made her different from the rest of Newer Helvetia. Everyone else blindly obeyed the Deacon and the other church elders. When they or their children fell ill, they unquestionably were sent to the quarantine building to die. Even if there was a cure to the disease, Delilah doubted that things would be different. Her community was too skeptical of the modern world to adopt anything as innovative as medicine. Besides, there wasn't enough food to feed everyone as it was.

Even her twin sister was no better. Jessica had always obeyed their parents and elders. She never questioned their ways or thought about a life outside of Newer Helvetia. When they both fell ill, Jessica had gone meekly into the quarantine while Delilah had to be sedated. Her last memory was of the foul-tasting tranquilizer syrup being forced down her throat.

Her next memory was the sound of rain. It beat on the thin tin roof of the quarantine building and dripped through the cracks. A drop had landed on Delilah's forehead and she sat up in bed in the silent and dark room surprised to find herself alive. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious.

"Jessica?" Delilah asked. There was no response. Delilah got up on her unsteady feet and went over to a nearby cot. It was dark and difficult to make out who was in it, she reached out and felt a cold prone body. She recoiled from the corpse and summoned her courage to look at the next cot. This time, she made out the familiar shape of her sister. She reached out and felt her sister's head, it was hot to the touch. At least she was still alive.

Reassured about her sister, Delilah thought next about herself. She did not know what would happen to her when the adults found out she was still alive. It was doubtful that the Deacon and elders would look favorably on a teenager who survived divine punishment. Even if they let her return home, which would be a best-case scenario, she would still be stuck in Newer Helvetia. Since she was given a second shot at life, she was not going to waste it trapped in a fundamentalist cult.

She silently wished her sister goodbye and slipped out of the quarantine building. Outside, she breathed the fresh air and took a minute to appreciate the feel of the raindrops on her face. The rain had never felt so refreshing. No one was in sight, but in the distance, she could hear men and women shouting. The quarantine building was housed outside the levy walls of Newer Helvetia on a small hill. Delilah figured the adults were busy working on fortifying the town's levees, a common enough occurrence when the fall rains arrived, and the Sacramento Sea rose. With any luck, they'd be too busy piling sandbags to notice her slip to the pier and steal a small boat. Delilah made her way down the hill towards her new life.

#

Chapter 1

"How much? You've got to be kidding!" Stella snapped into her hand-held translator. She paused as the machine rattled off a series of grunts and barks. The sea lion just looked at her blankly for a second and then fired back another string of guttural noises.

"The fungus arouses me," the translator blurted.

"Damnit," Stella swore. Between the virus and the famine, it was hard enough to find food in San Francisco. Having to haggle in Pinniped made it near impossible. Especially with the sorry excuse of a translator Charles had loaned her. The ape claimed that it worked perfectly for him, but Stella had her suspicious that he was just humoring her. She sighed and gave the sea lion the exorbitant price he asked for. In return, he grabbed a sorry looking American shad out of a pouch around his neck and dropped it onto the wooden pier. Stella swallowed her disgust and gingerly picked up the fish which was dripping with a mixture of fish blood, saltwater, and sea lion saliva.

"Until next time," she said.

"Please adjust my petticoats," the translator mangled the sea lion's response back to her.

"No thanks," Stella muttered and made her way back along the piers of Fisherlion's Wharf. With one last look around her for vigilantes, she went into character and entered the stream of pedestrians on Columbus Ave.

Since the majority of those pedestrians were what Stella was pretending to be, androids, the street was busy but silent. Androids were much too focused and determined to socialize. When San Francisco banned humans from leaving their homes it was meant to reduce the spread of the virus. However, it turned out that it also drastically increased the city's efficiency, if at a cost to its friendliness.

Androids could not catch the virus. Neither could the sea lions that worked in the waters of the Bay and the city's many canals. There were also the odd number of space apes on leave from space shuttles and stations that toured the city along with a handful who had settled down and opened businesses on the island.

Then there was the Vaccinated Vigilance Committee. Stella almost shuddered just to think of them, she resisted the impulse as such a shudder would have revealed her as a human. The vigilantes were responsible for enforcing the ban on humans. A vaccine for the virus had recently been invented by the renowned scientist, Dr. Lee. However, the daily injections were so expensive, that few of could afford them. Most of Earth's wealthy citizens had already fled the planet to the lunar colony. Therefore, the only alternative the Earthen-bond poor could afford was to sell themselves into indentured servitude to the vaccine developer, the Genesis Corporation. This resulted in Genesis becoming the de-facto city government and its Vaccinated Vigilance Committees roamed the streets enforcing the ban on humans as well as carrying out any of Genesis' other wishes.

Stella refused to be a vigilante. Even if she had been willing, it was unlikely that Genesis would accept her; she had an unpleasant relationship with the company after accidentally kidnapping the very same Dr. Lee who had developed the vaccine. This left her with limited options. Luckily, she spent years working with androids while she had lived on Mars, so she could manage a near-perfect imitation of them.

Near-perfect was not perfect, however. As Stella hustled down the silent street, she suppressed a shiver from the chilly San Francisco morning. Shivers, a sneeze, or a stray cough would give her away as a human and likely a one-way ticket to the quarantine building on Alcatraz. So too, would any gasp of surprise; which Stella had to remind herself of when she turned the corner and found herself in a midst of a crowd that had congregated around a truck.

"Fresh from the mountains!" a chimpanzee was calling out to the crowd from the back of an old truck. "Real vegetables! Bona fide fruits!"

It was not the chimpanzee that shocked Stella, she was used to apes from her time in space. Their ancestors were bred and trained to do all the dirty and dangerous jobs that human astronauts wanted to avoid. As the generations went on, they, and the other apes, became incorporated into broader society. What surprised her was the fresh fruits and vegetables. She, and everyone else, had not seen real fruits and vegetables for years. Before the plague ravaged humankind, there had been a terrible famine. Many of the common garden variety species had even gone extinct. Their presence on the back of the truck was unaccountable. Luckily for her, the androids around her were as shocked as she was, and no one noticed her surprised expression.

"Look at these ears of corn, only a dozen left, and going to the highest bidder!" The chimpanzee continued. The sales pitch betrayed him; it was the wrong statement for the crowd. The androids, never ones for figurative statements, suddenly started debating why cobs of corn were called "ears." Stella tried to back out of the mob, but she was in the midst of the argument and found herself stuck.

"What's going on here!" a sharp voice called out. Stella, carefully, to avoid detection, turned her head towards the voice and confirmed what she suspected. Three vigilantes had come onto the scene and were attempting to quell the boisterous crowd.

"Where did you get that contraband?" the lead vigilante asked the chimp after the humans pushed their way through the crowd. The chimp had seen the writing on the wall and was in the process of hurriedly packing his produce.

"Contraband? This isn't contraband. It is just corn," the chimp replied trying to sound casual.

"Give it here," said the vigilante.

The chimp was no fool; he was not going to let go of any of his merchandise without a cash transaction. He shook his head.

"Come on, I just want to look at it," the vigilante said approaching. He reached out to grab a cob.

The chimp violently snatched the cob out of the vigilante's hand. Given the chimps advantage in strength, he nearly pulled human's arm off along with the cob.

"Assault!" yelled one of the vigilante's partners and reached for his billy club.

"Neat!" exclaimed a drunken orangutan who had wandered onto the scene. He aimed a camera at the scene and snapped a photo.

It was an overcast morning, and the camera's flash blinded the crowd. Well, only part of the crowd. The androids barely reacted, but all the humans, Stella included, flinched. Luckily, the vigilantes were too distracted by the chimpanzee and vegetables to notice her slip. The back of the truck had turned into the setting for a full-on brawl with the chimp taking on the three vigilantes. However, Stella was not lucky enough for the surrounding androids to overlook her mistake. While the vigilantes did not notice Stella's reaction to the flash, the androids standing next to her did.

"Are you all right?" one of them asked her.

"Yes, thank you," Stella mumbled forgetting that androids always had perfect enunciation.

"She's slurring! She must have a short circuit," another nearby android suggested.

"No, I'm quite fine. Thank you," Stella said in her best android voice and pushed past them.

"Wait! You forgot your bag!" one of the androids called after her. He picked up the bag with the fish that Stella had forgotten.

"Uh, thanks," Stella said. She could not help but notice that one of the vigilantes waiting on the sidelines was now looking in her direction. Stella grabbed her bag and too quickly pulled it away from the android causing it to tear open and the American shad flopped onto the sidewalk.

"Oh no!" the android cried out. "Your fish is broken."

"Uh, it's fine. Don't worry about it," Stella said grabbing the fish. Without the bag she had no other place to hide it but shoving it under her shirt.

"I might be able to fix it," the other android offered. "I know a very good ichthyologist."

"I'm sure you do," Stella said. Normally, she'd be interested in hearing the story behind this unlikely friendship, but one of the vigilantes was making her way through the crowd towards her. Stella turned, mustered as much robotic calm as she could, and walked quickly away. It did not fool the vigilante.

"Guys, I think we got a runner," the vigilante called out.

"Crap," Stella said. She did not waste time looking behind her to see whether the vigilante was successful in getting the attention of his partners. Instead, she bolted down the street as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Stop!" she heard multiple voices call out from behind her. She ignored them and turned the corner towards Chinatown. She listened for the sound of helicopter blades; if the vigilantes called in air support she would be in trouble. If they just kept their pursuit to foot, then she knew she'd be all right. She spent her years living on Mars exercising while the Earth-bound vigilantes had dealt with famine and pestilence.

There was no sign of either a helicopter or any vigilantes by the time Stella neared her block. To be on the safe side, she darted down an alleyway and approached her building by the back. She paused to make sure she had not been followed or spotted by any helicopters or bystanders, then she leaped on top of the trash bin, pulled herself up onto the fire escape and ran up the three flight of stairs until she came to her room.

Since she did not have permission to be outside, she had gotten used to entering and exiting the building via the window. She slid the window open and entered her room. Stella had just closed the window when the door to her room burst open.

"Take your hands off me you damn dirty ape!" a familiar, but unwelcome, voice yelled out. "I'll see for myself whether she is here or not!"

"Hello Mr. Bones," Stella said quickly turning from the window and adopting an innocent look on her face.

"Mrs. Mooney," Samuel Bones said. "So glad you could join us."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Stella said. Samuel Bones was an executive in the Human Resources Department of the Genesis Corporation, a department that took on unexpected duties after the corporation gained the control of managing San Francisco's human population via the company's vigilantes. Stella was not sure what all his job responsibilities were, but as far as she could tell, his primary duty was to complicate her life. He was constantly checking up on her and making sure she was abiding by her parole.

She was the first to admit that she had made some mistakes after she stowed away on a Genesis spaceship. It was definitely a mistake to jump to conclusions and assume that the ship's humanitarian mission was actually a bizarre sex-trafficking cult. It was an honest mistake; the captain had recently been murdered and everyone was tense. It had taken a lot of persuasion to convince everyone that she was only a stowaway, not a murderess. She had to go through the whole spiel again after the ship arrived in Earth's orbit and Genesis interrogated her in its lunar headquarters. Finally, the company released her under the condition that she live with, and work for, Charles Knight, a former shipmate and ex-employee who had retired from Genesis and started a private investigation practice in San Francisco.

But that was all in the past. At a certain point, one had to let bygones be bygones. Forgive and forget was Stella's motto, but apparently not Samuel Bone's. He continuously dropped by checking on her to make sure she was not breaking any rules or laws, particular the one about humans leaving their homes. All of this really inconvenienced her illegal outdoors ventures.

"Is that a fish sticking out of your pants?" Bones asked.

"Why, yes," Stella said unable to think of a lie.

"Why is there a fish in your pants?"

"I'm trying to cook sushi."

"And...?"

"And...I'm not very good at it," Stella said removing the fish and placing it on her nightstand. There was an awkward silence while Bones waited for a further explanation. Stella did not oblige him.

"Just as Charles and I were talking, I got a report that there was a human woman running loose on the streets," Bones accused

"I hope you find her and will be very happy together," Stella answered.

"I wouldn't have needed to keep popping by here if you had not disconnected the surveillance cameras I set up," Bones continued.

"I can't have cameras around here," Charles said coming between Stella and Bones. "Client confidentiality."

"How convenient," Samuel sneered.

"You mean 'how ethical,'" Charles replied.

"I wouldn't go that far," Samuel said.

"That's too bad," Stella chimed in, "I don't think you could get far enough away for my comfort."

"Believe me," Samuel Bones said, "I don't like this situation any more than you do. If it was up to me, you'd still be in a lunar detention center."

"I bet you say that to all of the girls."

"You can see she was here, just like I told you," Charles said trying to hustle the executive out of the room. You'd best be on your way now, that human is not going to chase herself."

"Don't you want me to tell her about the case?" asked Samuel.

"Case? What case?" Stella asked. She followed Charles and Samuel out into the living room which served as the agency's reception room.

"While you were...elsewhere," Samuel explained, "I was telling your partner about the missing child."

"From Newer Helvetica," Charles added.

"Not Helvetica, that's a font," Samuel corrected.

"Front of what?" asked Stella.

"No, not--" Samuel began

"That religious cult in the Sacramento Sea," Charles interrupted.

"A bit redundant, aren't most cults religious?" Stella pointed out.

"Not cults of personality," Charles said.

"I don't know about that," Stella said, "most religions are started by--"

"She's fourteen years old, and her name is Delilah Salk," Samuel interrupted. "While you two are arguing about theology, she is who knows where and her parents are very concerned."

"I bet, but why are you?" Stella asked.

"Why am I what?" Bones asked.

"Concerned. What does Genesis care about a missing teen?" Stella asked. Just because she was wrong about the company in the past did not mean she believed the corporations motives were always innocent.

"We're not as heartless as you like to think we are," Samuel said.

"That doesn't answer my question," Stella said. "What is in it for you?"

"Any more information that you can provide would help us find her," Charles added. "You didn't give us a lot to go on."

"How many fourteen-year-old girls can be wandering the streets?" Samuel asked moving to the door. "The detective work is your business."

"Good," Stella said following him to the door. "Remember that next time and mind your own damn business," she finished before slamming the door shut on him.

#

Chapter 2

"You got back just in time," Charles said once they were sure Samuel Bones had left. "I held him off as long as I could."

"Yes, I ran into some...unexpectedness," Stella said.

"What sort of unexpectedness?"

"The botanical kind."

Charles just looked at her blankly.

"There was a chimp selling corn on the street."

"Corn?"

"Corn on the cob? Maize? The vegetable?" Stella explained.

"That is, indeed, unexpected," Charles said.

"Yeah, it caused quite the scene. Even among the androids. Oh, I almost forgot," Stella said going into her room and shortly returning with the fish. "Here's dinner."

"So, I take it that you did not get the corn?" Charles said gingerly holding the dead fish by its tail. The shad was all the worse for its adventure.

"I did not. Vigilantes got in the way."

"I suppose I can make do; I've had to do more with less."

"I bet it makes you miss the Genesis kitchens?" Stella teased. Charles had worked in the kitchens aboard the ship Stella had stowed away on. The ship had a well-stocked larder of hydroponic produce.

"Nothing makes me miss Genesis," Charles replied. As the cook, Charles never found ingredients wanting. However, he found that the company was less supportive of his true passion, psychotherapy.

"Do you ever think about starting a real practice down here?" Stella asked as Charles got pots and pans out from the kitchen cupboard.

"This is a real practice," Charles answered.

"I meant a psychiatrist's practice, not a detective agency."

"There's less paperwork with a detective agency," Charles replied. Non-human apes were not allowed to go to medical school; therefore, Charles was unable to get a degree. He was able to get a private investigator license, however. "But being a detective is the next best thing. You still get to help people solve their problems."

"Seems like most of the time we detectives just get sucked into their problems. Look at Ray," Stella said. Ray Parallax was the detective on Mars that had, inadvertently, led Stella to stowaway on a ship and travel to Earth.

"What about Ray?" Charles asked. "He's the one who gave me the idea."

"I suppose if he can be a detective, anyone can," Stella said. "But what I was saying is, he didn't do much in the way of solving any problems. He just spread the trouble around."

"I'm not sure if that is entirely fair," said Charles as he began to cook the fish. "The case on the ship was special. I'm not sure if anyone could have prevented it."

Stella doubted that was true. Most of the trouble had been started by Charles ex-wife, and she could have done plenty to prevent it. But Stella also knew that the trouble on board the Genesis spaceship had impacted Charles deeply, therefore, she did not press the point.

"What are we going to do about this case?" She asked instead.

"Maybe fry it." Charles said. "I'm not sure what we can use for seasoning though."

"Not the fish, the missing girl."

"Oh, that. We solve it, what else would we do?"

"Don't tell me that you actually believe that Genesis charity wash-over. There's something fishy about it."

"You just couldn't resist," Charles sighed.

"Sorry. But seriously, why would Genesis care about a missing fourteen-year-old? Of all the problems in San Francisco, why focus on that one?"

"Well, what do you suggest? We leave her missing?" Charles asked. "Bones had a good point, it's not safe for a young runaway."

"Never say that," Stella said.

"Say what?"

"That Bones was right. Bones is always wrong. He works for Genesis, which is also always wrong."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Charles said dismissing Stella's concern. "I know how you feel about them. But--"

"\--But nothing."

"\--But," continued Charles, "that still doesn't answer the question."

"What question?"

"The question about what are we going to do with the girl."

"Well, we certainly won't be giving her to Genesis."

"You want to just leave her?"

"Why not?" Stella asked thinking of her own experiences as a young runaway. "If she has enough common sense to get out of Newer Helvetia, she can probably handle herself."

"You don't actually believe that?"

"No," Stella admitted. She knew Charles was right. Plague ridden San Francisco was no place for a young human on her own. "I guess it is not so much a question of trying to find her as a question of what to do with her when we find her."

"I don't think we can fit another person in here," Charles preemptively said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we can't keep her."

"I don't want to keep her."

"Well, you don't want to give her to Genesis, you don't want to keep her, and you don't want to give her back to New Helvetia, do you?"

"Well, obviously I'm not giving her to Genesis. And your damn right I'm not sending her back to that cult that she came from."

"So?"

"So? So what? Anyway, aren't we getting ahead of ourselves? We have to find her first."

"If she even exists," Charles said.

"What do you mean if she exists?"

"Well, I don't need to tell you about how untrustworthy Genesis is."

"You think Samuel is making the whole thing up?"

"Might be his way of luring you out into the open. You know how much he hates you." Charles said.

"I suppose so," Stella said. "That does complicate the issue."

"It does," agreed Charles.

"But we can't just ignore the girl. What if she does exist?"

"I know. But I think Samuel also knows that."

"Damn him," Stella said. "Well, I guess we just have to investigate, but carefully." Stella always liked a challenge. Her concern over the girl had been channeled into excitement about the search and foiling Samuel Bones' plans. "You can check with the androids and the ape guild." I'll go back on the streets."

"I don't think either of those will be helpful," Charles said. "The Professional Order of Primates is a law-abiding organization. They'd have nothing to do with a runaway." Charles, like most of San Francisco's entrepreneurial apes, was a member of a guild promoting local chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan businessmen and businesswomen. They claimed that they met to advance locally owned ape businesses, but Stella suspected it was mostly just an excuse to socialize and drink.

"I'm sure your POOP club is very upstanding," Stella said.

"Please, we don't use the acronym," Charles interrupted. Then he added, "I'm pretty sure that I'm the only ape who associates with stray humans. You people are kind of a liability."

"Whoa, my people?"

"You know what I mean. Which is why I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to go back outside. You had one close call already today."

"I'll be fine. Besides, who better to find a stray human than another stray human?" Stella said dismissing Charles' concerns. She was already halfway back to her bedroom window.

"Don't you want dinner first?" Charles called out after her. He waved the half-dissected fish towards her.

"Not in the slightest," Stella called out before crawling out onto the fire-escape.

#

Chapter 3

A quarter of a million miles away, Ray Parallax ducked behind a boulder and griped his laser rifle until his knuckles turned white.

"Devin? Devin? Do you copy?" he hissed into his radio transmitter. The only response was static. Once again, Ray found himself alone in a desolate landscape.

The dark side of the moon very much resembled the Martian outback where Ray had grown up. The side of the moon facing Earth, where the wealthy refugees from Earth resided, was terraformed with lush green forests with sparkling white beaches surrounding an inland sea. The side that was not visible from Earth retained its natural crater-pocked barrenness. Genesis took advantage of the cheaper real estate to place its corporate headquarters and laboratories. After Ray had completed his last mission, he was given a choice between settling on Earth or taking a position with Genesis' security team. He hated corporations. The mining town he had grown up in was a corporate town. A corporation was the reason why he was separated from his family. However, all that was in the past and buried in the Martian sands. When Ray found himself millions of miles away from home and alone, the enticement of a steady paycheck was too strong to resist. He took the job with Genesis. It also did not hurt that the lunar gravity was much closer to the familiar Martian gravitational constant allowing him to settle into his new home right away without the normal lengthy readjustment period a life on Earth would require.

He looked carefully around the border to see if anyone was in sight. He could not see friend nor foe. The only thing visible were the towering Genesis skyscraper in the distance. Otherwise the coast was clear. He took a deep breath of moon air and leaped from behind the boulder and raced towards the nearest crater. Just as he approached the rim, he was knocked over by a tremendous blow from the behind. He hit the dust with his head spinning. He was thankful that he had the helmet, otherwise he was sure he would have lost consciousness.

"Damnit Edgar!" Ray yelled moments later, after he had regained his wits. "Use the training rifles!" The training rifles did not have live ammunition and they were designed to leave the target unharmed. Unharmed was far from the state that Ray now found himself. His head was ringing, and his lip was bleeding.

"Tag, you're it!" Edgar yelled. He was a small spherical robot that floated above the ground. Ray had still not determined the physics and mechanics of Edgar's levitation, mostly due to the fact that Edgar never remained still enough to study.

"It's not really his fault, he doesn't have arms," another robot said poking his head out of the crater.

"I guess I should have anticipated that," Ray muttered picking himself up off the ground. "What about you?"

"I clearly do have hands," Devin said waving them enthusiastically.

"No, I mean, yes you do, but why didn't you respond?"

"I was keeping hidden," replied Devin. "I didn't want to get tagged. It looks painful."

"How astute of you," Ray snapped. "But once again, we were not playing tag. This is a training simulation."

"Same difference," chirped Edgar still circling Ray.

"I beg to disagree," Ray said.

"Well," Devin said, "at least it's still an improvement over the last time."

"Yeah, last time you snuck in a real rifle and almost blasted my head off," Ray said picking up his training rifle.

"You told us to take it seriously," Devin said.

"No, I said, 'it's not a game.' There's a difference," Ray corrected.

"Want to play again?" Edgar asked spinning in figure eights in the air.

"No, we are not playing--never mind, no, let's give it up for the day," Ray said and began to head to the edge of the exercise ground to the entrance of the locker rooms. Edgar and Devin followed him despite the fact that they did not wear clothes.

"What are we training for anyway?" asked Devin. "We never worked so hard back when we were pirates."

"Shhh!" Ray hissed. "Remember what I said about talking about the past?" Edgar and Devin were designed to conduct corporate espionage. Ray had met them on his last mission. When he hired them as his security team, he felt it best that Genesis not find out their backstories.

"But none of the other teams practice this much," Devin pointed out.

"What, do you have other things to do?" Ray asked.

"Capture the flag?" Edgar proposed.

"We'd need more players for that," Devin said.

"Again, it's not supposed to be a game," Ray reminded. But he had to admit that Devin had a good point. The other security teams took their duties less seriously and therefore Ray's team usually had the exercise grounds to themselves. Today was an exception. Ray was surprised to see a man in a suit waiting for him by the locker room door.

"Mr. Parallax?" the man asked. "My name is Randolph Bones."

"Hello, Randy Bones," Ray said. "Call me Ray."

"I don't much care for Randy," Bones said. "Do you have a moment to spare?"

"Depends," Ray said.

Randolph pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Ray.

"Since you are a Genesis executive," Ray said reading the card, "then I suppose my time is your time. You guys write my checks after all."

"Come along with me," Randolph said motioning to Ray to follow. "You can leave your friends behind."

"Sounds ominous," Ray said, but followed Randolph through the exit gate.

"I'm familiar with your history," Randolph said as they made their way to a parked vehicle. "And may I say I am impressed by the seriousness which you undertake your duties. No other security team leaders show quite the dedication as you do."

"Thanks," Ray said. "But, as I was just telling my team, there's not much else to do around here." The vehicle began to move as soon as they both sat down.

"I know you and Genesis got off to a rocky start," Ray just snorted at that. He had taken Genesis on what he had thought was a short-term client. Instead, he found himself stranded 140 million miles from home.

"But I think there is a lot of room for upward mobility," Randolph continued.

"How upward?" Ray asked.

"How does head of special assignments sound?" Randolph asked.

"It sounds like it would depend on how 'special' the assignment is," Ray said. "I've been burned before."

"As have we," sighed Randolph. "For example, your friend has given my brother a fair amount of trouble."

"Who?" Ray asked.

"My brother, Samuel."

"No, who is my friend?"

"Stella Mooney."

"Ah, less of a friend and more of a reluctant work acquaintance," Ray said.

"Glad to hear that. Given the nature of the assignment, we want to minimize the risk of undesirable interferences, of which, Ms. Mooney leads the list. Here, you'll not be needing that," Bones said taking the training rifle from Ray.

"What type of assignment is this?" Ray asked.

"Like I said, a 'special' one," Randolph said. The car lurched to a stop so abruptly that he fell out of his seat. They had apparently been traveling a lot faster than Ray had realized, a fact that was confirmed when he was greeted by a blast of warm humid air. He exited the vehicle and gaped at the large mansion surrounded by palm trees.

"Welcome to the bright side of the Moon," Randolph said walking up the steps of the mansion.

"Where are we?" Ray asked hurrying to catch up.

"I just said, the bright side--"

"No, I mean more specifically than that."

"You are to guard important company assets," Randolph said as the entered the mansion. Given your past association with Genesis, and some of the assets in question, we thought you would be an excellent candidate for the job." They entered a library and Ray was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Dr. Lee!" he said.

"What?" The doctor replied not looking up from her book.

"So, she's the asset?" Ray asked Randolph.

"I'm a what?" Lee asked again, this time glancing up.

"Well, her and her research," Randolph answered. "I don't need to remind you the effort we took to get her here."

"Nope, I was there and remember it well," Ray said. "What's the danger this time?" Ray asked. Based on the tranquility in the library, things were looking pretty peaceful.

"Just make sure she is secure," Randolph answered ambiguously. "The vaccine that she has developed is quite valuable and it is of the upmost importance that the process is not interfered with."

"But, hasn't she already invented the vaccine. Why the big worry?" Ray asked.

"Those are the wrong questions to ask," Randolph said.

"Excuse me?" Ray asked.

"The correct question," Randolph continued, "is 'what about the other asset?'"

"What other asset?" Ray asked.

"Now you got it!" Randolph said. "Dr. Lee," he said turning to face the woman, "where is the girl?"

"What girl?" Lee asked.

"What girl? What other girl is around here?"

"I haven't seen any girl. Just the devil incarnate. The little brat tried to baptize me."

"What?" Randolph asked.

"Doesn't sound very devilish," Ray contributed.

"She blessed a water balloon and then threw it at me from the top of the stairs," Lee said. "Luckily, she hadn't adjusted to the difference in gravity. I was able to dodge most of it. But it made quite the mess."

"Where is she now?" Randolph asked.

"Out back in the chapel," Lee answered going back to her book.

"The chapel?" both Ray and Randolph asked.

Lee sighed and looked up from her book. "The maintenance shed out in the back. She took all the tools out and made it into a chapel. Said it reminded her of home. For all I care, she can stay out there."

Lee went back to her book and made it clear that she did not want to be interrupted further. Randolph led Ray out of the room, down the hall, and out a back door. The door opened onto a lush garden. The two men walked across the yard towards a small shed.

"Jessica? Jessica are you in there?" Randolph said gently knocking on the door.

"Shhh!" a voice called out from the shed. "I'm busy!"

"Can you come out for just a second?" Randolph asked.

A young girl stuck her head out of the shed door.

"Jessica, this is Mr. Parallax," Randolph said. "He's going to watch over you for a bit."

"I am?" Ray asked.

"He is?" Jessica asked.

"He is," Randolph answered.

"I am, I guess," Ray said.

"Say 'Hello,'" Bones said.

"Hello," Jessica said.

"I was talking to Ray," Bones said.

"Hello," Ray said extending his hand.

"Actually," Randolph said grabbing Ray's outstretched hand, "let's wait on that. But if you need anything," he said turning back to Jessica, "just asked Mr. Parallax."

"Is he a godless scientist too?" Jessica asked.

"Well... let's just say he's certainly not a scientist," Randolph said. "We'll let you get back to... whatever it is you're doing."

"What's up with the kid?" Ray asked as soon as they were out of earshot of Jessica.

"She is a troubled youth that Genesis is mentoring," Randolph answered.

"I thought she was an asset?'" Ray said as they reentered the house.

"Can't she be both?" Randolph answered, "Oh, she also might be contagious." Randolph took a syringe out of his jacket pocket and before Ray could react, jabbed it into Ray's arm.

"Ouch! What the hell?" Ray said.

"I'd watch that language around the kid," Randolph said.

"What was that?"

"The vaccine. Jessica is from Earth, no telling what she picked up down there. Don't want you to get ill. Remember to take it once a day, there's a bunch of them in the medicine cabinet."

"Why did you bring her to the moon? Isn't this where people go to get away from the virus?"

"That's not any of your business," Randolph said as he led Ray back towards the front of the mansion. "Your business is just making sure nothing happens to her or the doctor."

"I have a few questions," Ray tried again.

"This whole questioning thing is a bad sign. I had hoped you were a faster learner," Randolph said. "One last thing that is your business is this," he said pointing to an elevator just off the main entrance way. "This is the security elevator."

"Security elevator?" Ray asked.

"Yes, keep it secure," Randolph said. "Otherwise, you should be able to find everything you need in the house," Randolph said out in the hall. "You also have my card if anything comes up."

"Thanks, but I still--"

"Remember," Randolph said as he went towards the door. "Keep the elevator secure." With that last instruction he opened the door and left. Ray stood puzzling over what that meant, why he, as head of security, was not allowed to use it, and how he was going to manage taking care of a fourteen-year-old.

#

Chapter 4

"We all agree that the acronym is terrible," Charles said over the hubbub of voices. "But what is the alternative? You all remember what happened the last time we tried to change the name." What had started out as a routine matter of approving the last Professional Order of Primates meeting minutes had, once again, devolved into a heated debate about the organization's name.

"Those were lesser apes, not great apes like us!" Edna, a gorilla architect shouted from her seat in the front row. There were grunts of approval and also moans of displeasure from the various factions at this comment.

"That sort of divisiveness will get us nowhere," said Elwin, the club's chimpanzee president. The club had a long history of nearly being torn apart by interspecies strife. "When the gibbons left, they took with them a fifth of our club dues." The departure of the gibbons from the group had indeed been a costly affair resulting in a loss of membership dues and several discrimination lawsuits.

"And what do they have to show for it?" Edna countered. "The Gregarious Association of Gibbons? GAG? That's worse than ours!"

"How dare you even compare us to those long-armed freaks!" slurred Bernard, an orangutan known to have a slight drinking problem. "Next thing you know, we'll be inviting in the macaques, or dare I say, the prosimians!"

The mention of lemurs destroyed any semblance of civility among the assembled apes. The group instantly fractured into those who tolerant enough to support a big tent including all primates, versus those who insisted on excluding all but the great apes.

"Quiet, quiet!" Charles yelled. As the group's secretary, he felt it his responsibility to play the peacemaker and get the meeting back on track. Plus, their organization's lawyers had made it very clear that the group was on thin ice when it came to comments about other species.

"And while we are at it," Edna yelled over the crowd. "Why is our board all chimpanzees?"

"Not this again," Elwin sighed, "it was a fair election." He, Charles, and the vice-president, Beulah, were indeed all chimpanzees. It was another decisive issue that often caused meetings to veer off track.

"How was it fair?" Edna sneered. "There's more chimps than us others. Of course, they are going to vote for their own. We need to have species specific representatives."

"Whoa, let's hold on there," Bernard said. "I say the jobs should go to those who want them."

"That's just because you're too lazy to do any work," Edna snapped. There were not many orangutans in San Francisco, so Bernard would likely be the de-facto representative of his species.

"If we are going down that route, then I change my mind," Bernard said, "Let's bring back the gibbons, they didn't mind the paperwork." It was one of the many reasons why they had been successful in the lawsuits.

"We are not changing the board," Elwin snapped. "We've had this conversation plenty of times. The election was fair, and we need to move on."

"I'm just going to assume the minutes are approved," Charles said ignoring parliamentary procedure. "On to the next order of business. Does any--"

"Corn!" shouted Bernard.

"Stop yelling random words," Elwin sighed. "I warned you before about drinking before the meetings. Save it for happy hour afterwards."

"No, that's an order of business," Bernard said. "I saw a chimpanzee selling corn."

"Impossible," Edna said. "You must have been seeing things."

"I have photos of it!" Bernard announced producing a stack of photographs. He handed them to Elwin.

"Most of these are just you shirtless in front of a mirror," Elwin said briefly paging through them.

"Yes, I do work out," Bernard said, "but that is besides the point. There! There's the picture of the chimp selling corn!" Bernard pointed to a photograph at the bottom of the pile.

"This blurry photo? It could be anything," Elwin said.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Charles interceded, "I actually heard about the corn incident as well."

"You saw it too?" Elwin asked.

"No, but I heard about it."

"From who?"

"My...um...partner," Charles said. Once again, the room broke into an uproar. Humans were the one species of great ape that were explicitly forbidden from joining the organization. Even mentioning them was taboo. Charles' and Stella's living arrangement was the subject of much gossip.

"Let's hear the full story," Elwin said after the group had quieted down. Bernard launched into a full description of the event. Most of it confirmed to what Charles had heard from Stella, with slight discrepancies where Bernard soliloquized about his own handsomeness.

"I'm going to cut you off right there," Elwin finally interrupted as Bernard entered another tangent. "You said it was a chimp?"

"Chimp or bonobo, who can tell you guys apart?" Bernard said casually producing angry glances from the chimpanzees and bonobos in the room.

"I'll ignore that," Elwin said. "Is anyone here selling corn? Vegetables? Or anything of the sort?"

"How could we? They're extinct," a voice in the crowd called out.

"I know!" Bernard said excitedly. "The whole thing violates the laws of nature and POOP!"

"I would like to remind everyone that our charter clearly forbids the use of the acronym," Charles said.

"Who cares about the acronym!" Bernard shouted. "We have a scab! An unlicensed, non-member taking our hard-earned business!"

"What business?" Elwin asked. "None of us grow food.

"And Bernard, I'm still not clear on exactly what your line of work even is?" Edna asked.

"I don't like labels," Bernard said. There were long standing rumors that he was involved with illicit work with the black market.

"Well, I don't know what we can really do about it at this point," Elwin said. "It might just be an isolated incident."

"I doubt that," Edna said. "Resurrecting an extinct species that was a staple crop for civilization hardly qualifies as 'not a big deal' in my book."

"What I think we can all agree on," Bernard said taking a sip from his concealed flask, "is that Charles here has an unnatural relationship with a human."

"There's no need for ad hominem attacks," snapped Charles.

"Ad hominem," sneered Bernard. "Figures. A true ape would have said 'ad simian.'"

"I don't think we're going to get much done tonight," sighed Elwin. "Let's just wrap up and move on to drinks and refreshments. Looks like Bernard is already ahead of us."

They adjourned after reaching a consensus to strike all of the evening's comments from the meeting minutes. Charles could only hope that the group would one day get through an actual agenda without it turning into a shouting match. After the official business concluded, the apes then turned their attention to the hors d'oeuvres, or what passed for hors d'oeuvres given the global famine, in the back of the room. Charles mingled among the chimps, as was usual for him, but then summoned his courage and went over to Bernard. Normally, he never shirked his work and was always eager to investigate a case. But, given the comments at the night's meetings, he was not looking forward to bringing up the subject of humans to the orangutan. However, if the rumors about Bernard's involvement in certain criminal endeavors were true, he might have information about where the girl was hiding.

"Say, Bernard," Charles said casually making his way next to the orangutan. "There's no easy way to ask this, so I'll just come out and ask directly. If one were looking for a human--"

"Figures you'd be one to ask. What, you are already tired of the one you have? You are one nasty sicko."

"No, its nothing like that. It's for a case. I'm looking for a missing girl. Do you know anything about it? Or any ideas where such a human would be?"

"What makes you think I'd know anything about human girls?" Bernard asked. "Again, I'm not a pervert like you."

"Quiet down," Charles said. Their conversation was attracting unwanted glances.

"Actually, I did see one," Bernard said scratching his head.

"Really? Where?" Charles asked.

"When I saw the chimp selling corn, there was an illegal human in the crowd. I think the vigilantes got her. Serves her right."

"No, not that one," Charles said. "It'd be a younger one."

"How should I know how old they are?" Bernard asked. "You want me to crack them open and count their rings?"

"They're not trees," Charles pointed out.

"I wish they were!" Bernard shouted. "Then they'd be useful! For carpentry!"

"Never mind, forget that I asked," Charles said. If Bernard did have any information, he was too drunk to be of any use.

"You really should just stay away from them," Bernard continued. "Stick to your own kind. Humans are nothing but trouble."

Charles had had enough of trouble for one night, so he turned to head out the door. Just as he was leaving, Edna tapped him on the shoulder.

"Charles, can I speak to you for a moment?" Edna asked.

"Sure," Charles said.

"I couldn't help but overhearing--" Edna began as they walked out of the meeting hall.

"I don't think anyone could avoid it," Charles sighed.

"This human--" Edna began.

"Like I said, it's for a case," Charles explained.

"Yeah, I heard that. And I actually believe you. I actually may be able to help you."

"You can?" Charles asked surprised. Everything about Edna portrayed her as an upstanding citizen. It seemed unlikely that she'd be anyway involved with as illegal as a runaway human.

"I have a bit of side business that the others don't know about," Edna explained. "More of a hobby really, but it does bring in a bit of an income."

"What sort of hobby? And how much income?" As secretary, Charles was also in charge of the group's finances. Members were continuously understating their income to avoid paying membership fees.

"Not enough for you to worry about," Edna said delicately.

"Well, are we talking--"

"Look, do you want to hear what I have to say or not?"

"Fine, but I reserve the right to return to the financial questions."

"I do some work for a nightclub named Bart's," Edna said.

"So?" he asked. The name meant nothing to Charles.

"They catered to a certain clientele," Edna said seeing the blank look on his face.

"Clientele? What sort of clientele?" Charles asked

"The Homo sapiens sort," Edna admitted.

"Humans? You main the vigilantes?"

"No, not the vigilantes. Actually, the direct opposite." Charles looked at her blankly again. "Let me explain," Edna continued. "There's a resistance movement of humans who are none too pleased with Genesis' takeover of the city. They refuse to leave, but they also refuse to be indebted to the company by purchasing the vaccine. As such, they've been forced underground. Quite literally in fact. Their nightclub is in the ancient subway tunnels. They alternate throughout the week to avoid raids from the vigilantes. Different station each night."

"The subway? What subway?"

"Like I said, the ancient one. It flooded centuries ago."

"Flooded?"

"Yes, which is why they needed help from my firm to pump them out."

"A night club doesn't sound like a place for a runaway child."

"No, but a resistance movement of renegade humans sounds up her alley."

"Why haven't I heard about this?"

"Are you a renegade human?"

"No."

"Well, there you go."

"So, where is this club?"

"Like I said, it moves around. But they usually give me a call ahead of time to check to make sure the pumps and everything is working. The next one is tomorrow by the Civic Center."

"Well, thanks Edna," Charles said gratefully.

"Don't mention it. Literally don't," Edna advised heading back into the hall. "It's just between us. Although Elwin is up for election soon, and I'd think it'd be great to get a gorilla on the board."

Charles just sighed. He didn't like being beholden, but a few campaign favors were a small cost to find the girl.

"Oh, and one last thing," Edna called out just before she went inside. "They only hired me out of necessity. They did not have a lot of other options."

"So?" Charles asked.

"What I'm trying to say is that they aren't too keen on non-humans. So good luck with that."

#

Chapter 5

To find a runaway, Stella decided to place herself in the young girl's shoes and retrace her steps. Over the centuries, a lot had changed in San Francisco. The seas had risen turning it from a bay to an island. Famine and plague had routinely struck the city. However, one thing had remained constant; those seeking refuge in the city stopped first at Angel Island.

Angel Island lay outside the jurisdiction of San Francisco and was therefore not subject to the ban on humans. It was the nearest point to the city where humans could freely wander with only being worried about starvation and infection, not vigilantes. That being said, the island was fairly desolate. Just because it was legal for humans to be on the island did not mean that any would actually want to go there. Rumor was that it was also haunted.

Even if it was not very hospitable, coming from Newer Helvetia, the island was a logical place for the girl to stop at to reconnoiter and get one last taste of freedom before entering the city. However, getting out of San Francisco was nearly as difficult as getting in. And like a runaway, Stella would have to do it all on her own.

Well, nearly on her own. Since arriving in the city, Stella had taken advantage of the sea lions who fished in the waters around San Francisco. Normally, her requests were limited to fish and seafood. But the lions were known to also provide transportation to those desperate enough to seek it out.

She made her way back to Fisherlion's Wharf, taking a slightly different route than the one she used earlier in the day. When she got to the wharf, she looked both around to make sure the coast was clear, then ducked under the wooden railing and slid down a post and ducked under the pier.

Stella stood in the waist high cold water waiting for a sea lion to come. She only hoped that it was not too late in the day; they did most of their business in the morning. It took about fifteen minutes before she saw a swell coming towards her and a brown head with tiny ears poke from the surface.

The lion barked expectantly at her. Stella reached into her pocket for her translator only to find it missing.

"Damn!" she swore. "Listen I need to go to that island," she said pointing towards the northeast.

The lion just looked at her.

"Do you understand? Can you take me to the island?"

The lion dove under the surface and returned momentarily later with a rock.

"Thank you," Stella said taking the rock. "But I need to go to the island." She pointed again and made a swimming motion with her arms. The lion looked at her and finally nodded its head and, laid flat, and floated on the surface in front of her. Stella realized that she really had not thought this whole endeavor through, but it was too late for such misgivings. She swallowed the lump of uncertainty that rose up in her throat and crawled onto the back of the sea lion.

The lion swam slowly out from under the wharf and headed out into the open Sacramento Sea. Stella realized that she was by no means inconspicuous; if anyone, particular any vigilantes, looked out to sea, they'd see her riding a sea lion. This would precipitate a jam that pretending to be an android would not get her out of.

"Hey," she whispered to the sea lion, "I didn't think this through, take me back and we'll wait until dark."

The sea lion gave no indication that he even heard, much less understood, her. Stella repeated her request, louder this time. The lion still gave no response, but continued swimming towards the island. Stella tried to get its attention by tapping it on the shoulder, or at least the approximate area on a sea lion that would correspond to a shoulder. This did produce a response, but not the desired one. The sea lion interpreted the pat as a signal to dive.

Stella gasped, which resulted in a mouthful of seawater. Her gasp was followed by a gag. She frantically held onto the lion and pounded on its back to get it to resurface. The lion, who interpreted a pat as a signal to dive, interpreted the pounding as a signal to dive deeper, which it obligingly did.

Stella panicked and let go. She kicked and struggled to reach the surface of the sea. Just when she felt that her lungs were going to explode, she burst into the air.

"You almost killed me," she shouted to the sea lion who had followed her to the surface. She treaded water while she gathered her breath while the sea lion circled her. Once she felt ready, she reached out and grabbed the lion around the neck. It paused swimming momentarily but then took up the course towards Angel Island towing Stella along. She looked behind her, the city was far enough in the distance that now that only her head and shoulders were above water she reasoned that no one looking out to sea would notice her.

The thirty minutes that it took to get to Angel Island felt like hours to Stella, but finally they got close enough to the island that Stella could clearly see the shore. The lion took her to an abandoned pier in an inlet on the southeast side of the island. The pier was in terrible shape; it did not even look like it would support Stella's weight. She got off the sea lion, gave it a few coins, and waded through the surf to the shore.

Here she was greeted with a large sign that read:

Welcome to California's History Adventureland!

Boat Tours Depart at 10AM and 1 PM

"Hello?" she called out. It was well past the last tour. In fact, it was pretty obvious that no boat had departed from the area in many years. There were no signs of people in sight. She went past the sign and followed a dirt trail that led into the thick forest. The trail weaved between the trees and up a rocky slope. Eventually she came to a clearing with a small cabin.

"Hello?" Stella called out.

"Who's there?" a man called out. The door to the cabin opened and an elderly bearded man stepped out.

"I'm looking for a lost girl," Stella answered.

"Funny place to look."

"She's from Newer Helvetia. I expect that she came this way before heading into the city. Have you seen her? She should be about fourteen or fifteen."

"Fourteen or fifteen what?" the man asked.

"What do you mean? Years of course."

"Well, how was I supposed to know."

His literalness struck a chord in Stella's mind. Suddenly, it made sense how the old man could survive by himself on a deserted island. It also explained the origins for the rumors about the island being haunted.

"You're an android, aren't you?" she asked.

"What if I am?" the man asked. "The gold rush brought all sorts of kinds to California to seek their fortune in the hills."

"Well, okay then." Stella, at a loss of words, replied. This was like no android she had every met before, and she had met quite a few. Then it occurred to her that she must be viewing one of the remaining attractions of the California History Adventureland park. "You were a tour guide?" Stella asked to confirm her suspicion. "That'd explain the crotchety prospector attitude."

"Tour guide? I don't know anything about that. Back in my day," the historical reenactor continued in character, "we had to make our own fun." He pulled out a jug and started blowing on it and dancing a jig.

"Can we put a hold on the hootenanny?" Stella asked, a question that she had not foreseen herself ever having to ask. "Have you seen a missing girl?"

"Lost and found is back at the interpretation center," the prospector answered pointing her down another path. "Just across from the restrooms."

Stella sighed. It did not look like the android was going to be of any use. She debated what to do next. Since she did not come up with any better ideas, she figured she might as well check out the lost and found. She wandered down the path that the android had pointed to. In the distance, she could hear the sound of jug music. Soon she came to a paved trail and a modern looking building, albeit, in poor repair. The front door was locked, but the front window was shattered, leaving a gaping hole in the building. She entered and located the restrooms by their disgusting odor. Across from them was a door to the lost and found room.

Stella opened the door and entered the room. A large hole the ceiling provided enough light to see the hodgepodge of items stacked neatly in the room. Apparently, the tour guide took this part of his job seriously, even if he did not bother with building maintenance or cleaning the restrooms. Many of the items were covered in dust and had obviously been left unclaimed for many years. However, some of the items looked newer. Stella focused her attention on these to see if they contained any clue to where a human on the run would head. Given that the only inhabitant on the island was a deranged prospector android, she had no doubt that the girl, if she had arrived at the island, would have wasted little time in escaping to the city.

The only interesting thing she found was on the bottom of a shelf in the back of the room. There were several cases of canned food. The top case was opened, and half of the cans were missing. Stella pulled one of the remaining cans out. The original label had been torn off. Scribbled in black ink on the cans was the message, "Courtesy of the Bohemian Club" and below it was written, "Death to Genesis!"

She slipped the can in her pocket and pulled out another. The same message was written on it. It was repeated on a third can, along with some additional scrawled obscenities targeted towards the Genesis Corporation. It did not really shed any light on the missing girl, but it was the only thing in the room that was remotely a clue. Plus, during a famine, free food never went astray. Stella rummaged through the rest of the lost items until the light from the window faded without finding any other clues. Then she exited the center and headed back towards the mining camp.

"Do you know anything about this?" she asked the android holding out a can.

"Mmm! Them's good victuals, I reckon," he replied.

"Yes, I'm sure they are, but I mean the message on them."

"Sorry, but I don't put much stock in book learnin'. If you've got questions, I'd suggest you head down to the interpretive center."

"It's closed," Stella said, "probably forever. I imagine this is a pointless question to ask you, but is there any way to get back to San Francisco from here?"

"Why, back before the railroads," the android answered cheerfully, the only way to travel was by water or foot."

"Let's go with water." Stella suggested.

"Well, the tour boat is a bit late, by about a decade or so," the guide answered and motioned her down the path she had arrived by. "But in between panning, I've been putting together some rafts." He led her down a second trail that brought them to the coast.

"I see," said Stella as they came to an inlet in the beach where dozens of rafts rested on the shore. "Looks like you've been busy."

"Yeah, well the gold trade isn't what it used to be," the guide answered.

"I imagine so. And it looks like the History Adventureland has seen better days."

"We don't get too many visitors out here recently," the guide admitted. "Every once in a while, we get a person that comes by looking to buy or sell provisions or victuals. But they don't stay long and aren't too friendly. Like that last visitor. A young student. I offered her my best raft, but she just glared at me and took her own."

"Wait, student?"

"Yes, I was beginning to think people had stopped caring about history. We used to have huge school groups, but no more. The one that came the other day was all by her lonesome."

"So, when I was asking about the missing girl, you didn't think to mention this?"

"You said you were looking for fourteen or fifteen. That's a whole class. Like I said, she was just by herself. Besides, she wasn't lost. She knew exactly where she was going. Was in such a hurry that she didn't even stop to stick around for a hootenanny."

"A woman after my own heart," Stella said as she went and grabbed one of the rafts. If she was careful, she could make it back to San Francisco under the cover of darkness. She didn't quite strike gold, but she did learn enough to know she was on the right trail.

#

Chapter 6

"What did you do to yourself?" Stella finally managed to ask after several speechless minutes staring at Charles. She had spent the entire night rafting back to San Francisco and had slept through the morning and early afternoon. When she awoke, she had gone to Charles' office to tell him what she had found out at Angel Island only to find the ape sitting behind his desk completely bald.

"It's for the case," he explained.

"How? Why?" Stella stammered.

"I have to look like a human."

"You look nothing like a human."

"We need to go someplace only humans can go," Charles said ignoring her. "I have to blend in."

"If your goal is to blend in, you could not have possibly failed any worse."

"What are you talking about, I look great."

"Again, you look nothing like a human."

"True, I'm sexier."

"Only if you think disfigured humongous newborns are sexy. In which case, you'd only be a little creepier than you look now."

"There's no need for hyperbole."

"Hyperbole? Have you looked in a mirror? Have you seen a real human? Do you really think all it takes is to shave off all of your hair?"

"Not all of it," Charles corrected. "Just the parts necessary to achieve this evening's purpose."

"Eww gross."

"And to get to your other questions, genetically, humans and apes are over 98% the same."

"No one is going to be looking at your chromosomes. It's the rest of you that I'm concerned about."

"It'll be fine. You all look the same, no one will notice."

"Wait, you really mean that?" Stella asked. "You can't tell the difference between me and another human?"

"Well, of course I can. You're the human that lives in the room across the hall from me. Context is everything."

"I think we're getting off track," Stella said. "Why did you say have to look like a human?"

"Because, we are going to a night club that only allows humans in."

"Really? Any chance it's called the Bohemian Club?" Stella gave him the can of food with the message written on it.

"Huh," Charles said looking at it. "Nope, the lead I got was a club called Bart's. My friend Edna told me about it. She does some work on the club's pumps."

"Pumps?"

"It's underground and floods a lot."

"Sounds charming."

"Apparently renegades aren't very discerning patrons."

"Just as well considering how you look."

"Ouch."

"'Ouch' is what my eyes said."

"Do you have anything else to add? Or are you too busy criticizing?"

"Well, I'm certainly not done criticizing. But I'll hit the pause button on that for now. I did learn from a creepy robotic Forty-Niner that our girl made it to Angel Island a few days ago."

"Robotic Forty-Niner?"

"Yeah, educational theme parks are always suspect, but this one certainly took the cake."

"Well, while you were out sight-seeing, I was working," Charles said.

"Working? You found out about a night club. That's not work, that's a dinner recommendation."

"Well, we don't have much to lose by checking it out."

"Yeah, your dignity left when you picked up the razor."

"Do you want to check out the club or not?"

"Fine, fine," Stella said. "Where did you friend say the club was?"

"Tonight, it is by the Civic Center," Charles answered. "We have a short window; the club will be somewhere else tomorrow. They shift the location around."

"So, what's the game plan? We can't really go to a secret club and start asking about a runaway teenager. That's bound to raise some suspicions. Above and beyond this whole situation you have going on."

"Says you," Charles replied. "I've never had problems getting into a night club before."

"I'm guessing a) that's not true, and b) this isn't your average night club."

"Well, the first hurdle is getting to the club in the first place. Now that I look identical to a human, I can't just wander the streets any longer."

"Yeah, I definitely don't want to be seen in public with you in your current state."

"I thought you said you were done? Once we get to the club, I guess we go down and mingle. Check out the others, try to work the runaway into casual conversation."

"Should I be concerned that runaway teenage girls pop up in your casual conversations?"

"Hey, you're the real human. Do you have a better idea?"

Stella had to admit that she did not. Reluctantly, she agreed that they'd go to the club and then play it by ear.

She and Charles exited the apartment building and headed towards downtown San Francisco. Stella impersonated an android, while Charles impersonated a human who was impersonating an android. To Stella's surprise, they actually made it to the old subway station without being detected by vigilantes.

"Any sign of how we get inside?" Stella whispered to Charles as they strolled along the City Center plaza in a stream of android pedestrians. There was no sign of any night club or way to get underground.

"There's a sign!" Charles pointed to a "Men at Work" sign on a temporary construction fence that blocked an alley between two office buildings. At first, Stella assumed that he was taking his android disguise a little too seriously by interpreting everything literally. But then it occurred to her that in a city dominated by androids, it was a bit peculiar to have such a sign. Androids were not "men" in the traditional sense. She and Charles circled the block one last time and when they came close to the construction site, they quickly jumped the short fence and ducked down the alley.

"Over here," Stella said going to the side of a large dumpster. It was the only object in the alley. With Charles' help, she pushed it to the side revealing a hole in the side of the building. Stella had to duck to enter, but within a few feet inside, they encountered a short stairway lighted by dim bulbs. The stairway took them to a set of escalators that were no longer in operation. They heard the sound of voices in the near distance and when they reached the bottom of the escalators they were greeted by a bouncer.

"Hello, just two humans here for some fun," Charles said before Stella could prevent him. The bouncer just glared at him but made no move to stop them. Stella avoided his eyes and held her breath as she walked past, but she too, made it into the club.

"I'll check out the bar," Charles eagerly volunteered. "You can scope out the rest of the club."

"Gee thanks," Stella said as Charles happily bounded away. She looked around the club. It was a bit more sedate than the venues she had visited back on Mars, but those establishments were not trying to fly under the radar. There was music playing softly from somewhere and the low murmur of voices. Either it was still early, or the resistance was not very popular; there were hardly any people milling about. Just a few at the bar who Stella could not help observing had moved as far away from Charles as possible.

"First time here?" a voice asked her. Stella turned around and saw the bouncer from earlier.

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?" she admitted. "Sorry about my friend."

"It's okay. He's the only reason I let you both in. I figured you must be on the level. No vigilante would be so blatantly obvious.

"I guess not," Stella said.

"That being said, it doesn't explain why you snuck him in."

"The shaved part I can't account for," Stella said.

"How about the other parts?"

Stella shuddered at the thought of Charles' other parts, then began to think of a convincing lie. But she changed her mind and told the truth instead. "He's my boss. We're looking for someone."

"Who?"

"A runaway, we're detectives."

"Detectives? Maybe I shouldn't have let you in. We don't want any trouble."

"No trouble? What kind of covert night club is this?"

"Fair enough," the bouncer said. "I'm guessing by the absence of vigilantes swarming us you aren't with Genesis?"

"I'm not too big of a fan of them myself," Stella answered cautiously.

"Amen to that," the bouncer said. "But I suppose you would say that if you were trying to convince us you were on our side."

"Knock it off!" Stella heard a voice from the bar call out.

"What, can't one Homo sapiens groom another Homo sapiens?" Charles asked.

"Then again," the bouncer continued, "if you are anything like your boss, subterfuge doesn't seem to be your strong suit."

Stella could not think of an appropriate reply.

"Who did you say you were looking for?" the bouncer asked.

"I didn't," Stella replied.

"I can't really help you if you don't give me any details."

"It's kind of a delicate situation," Stella said.

"Above my paygrade is what you mean," the bouncer chuckled. "Okay then, come on, let me take you to my boss. If you convince him you're honest, then maybe he'll help you out. If not, well then..." he trailed off ominously.

The bouncer led Stella across the room and down another set of stairs. There were slightly more people down here where the old subway tracks used to run. They walked always into the tunnel until they came to a door.

"It's me boss," the bouncer knocked. Without waiting for a response, he pushed the door open and pulled Stella inside.

"Hey, watch it!" Stella said. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. When they did, she couldn't believe them.

"Samuel Bones!" she gasped.

#

Chapter 7

"Is this the one you were waiting for, boss?" the bouncer asked.

"One of them. Did she have a friend?" Samuel bones asked in return.

"Yeah, a bald chimp."

"What? Bald?"

"I'll go and get him," the bouncer said in lieu of answering. He left Stella alone with Samuel.

"What's going on?" Stella finally managed to ask.

"You're the detective, you figure it out," Bones replied.

"But the girl?"

"The girl? Oh, yes, Ms. Delilah Salk. Don't worry about her, she is doing perfectly fine. I captured her a few days ago."

"Captured? But then why--" the answer occurred to Stella as she was asking it. The easy walk to the club had been too simple to be true. "This was all a set-up, wasn't it?"

"Normally I'd say you were just being paranoid, but in this case, you are absolutely correct," Bones answered. "You've been quite the inconvenience and it took some maneuvering to finally catch you."

"Gee, you did all this for me? You really shouldn't have."

"Don't flatter yourself. This is not the first time we've opened 'Bart's.' It's a good way of catching those humans who are hard to catch. Plus, we always pick up a few extra surprises like your friend. Just listen for it," Bones said holding his finger up. In spite of herself, Stella listened. Within a few moments she heard a shrill whistling coming from upstairs followed by yells and shouts.

"There we go," Bones said. "My vigilantes will be now gathering up your fellow so-called renegades."

"All of them?"

"Yes, of course. We can't have unvaccinated humans running amok infecting each other."

"No, I meant all of your vigilantes?"

"Uh," Samuel said. It just occurred to him that he did not have any back-up and Stella had nothing to lose. Before he could act, Stella slugged him across the jaw. Samuel sunk to his knees leaving his face at just the right level for it to collide with Stella's roundhouse kick.

Stella left him lying unconscious on the floor and opened the door. She could hear the chaos occurring elsewhere in the old subway station as the vigilantes continued their raid on the night club. It was a choice of either running in the middle of the raid or taking her chances of trying to escape by running further down the tunnel and hoping there was another exit. Stella choose the tunnel.

She ran along the dark passageway until she came to a sliver of light shining out from underneath another door. She reached for the handle; it was locked.

"Hello?" Stella asked while jiggling the handle.

"Hello?" responded a voice from the other side.

"Can you open the door?" Stella asked.

"Uh, it's locked, duh!" the voice sneered back at Stella.

"It couldn't be," Stella said to herself. The tone dripped sarcasm in only the way a teenager could. Stella remembered Samuel Bones lying on the ground nearby. She ran back to the room. He was just coming to.

"Why did you put her here?" Stella asked. Humans who were caught by Genesis were supposed to be sent to quarantine. It did not make any sense to Stella why Bones would keep the runaway in a fake night club, but nothing about the situation was making sense. She'd have to figure it out later as Bones was too groggy to answer. Stella grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed his face into the floor knocking him out again. This time, she rummaged through his pockets before leaving him behind. Inside one of them, she found a set of keys. Leaving the room, she picked up the electric lantern and locked Samuel alone in the darkness.

Stella returned quickly to the other door. She had no idea how long it would take for the vigilantes to gather up the rest of the humans and decide to search the rest of the tunnel. The keys shook in her hands and it took her a few tries before she found the right one and the lock clicked open.

"About time!" the voice said pushing the door wide open. If Stella had not jumped back in time it would have caught her. A young woman stood facing Stella.

"Delilah?" Stella asked.

"Who?" the teenager asked.

"Oh, I thought you were--"

"No, I mean 'who' are you? And how do you know my name?" Delilah asked.

"It's a long story," Stella said. "And unfortunately, we don't have time now. This way," Stella said pulling Delilah with her.

"Wait, why?" Delilah asked.

"What do you mean why? There's vigilantes coming?"

"So?"

"So, do you want to go to quarantine?" Stella asked as they ran down the tunnel.

"Been there, done that."

"This is serious!"

"I am serious. I've been to quarantine."

"No one survives quarantine." If a person did not have the virus when they arrived there, they caught it soon after.

"I did. I survived it in Newer Helvetia. If I can survive the fundamentalists in Newer Helvetia, I can survive anything San Francisco can throw at me."

Stella was dubious. "Then for my sake, come this way." She continued to half drag Delilah down the tunnel. So far, the vigilantes had not made it to the lower level.

"Where are you going?" Delilah asked.

"I'm trying to get out of here."

"By going down a mysterious dark tunnel of nothingness?"

"You have a better idea?" Stella asked.

"Not really," Delilah admitted. "But they're going to be able to see that light for miles," she said pointing to the electric lantern. She had a point. As much as Stella hated to do it, she switched the lantern off. They found themselves enveloped in complete blackness. Hand in hand, they slowly made their way down the tunnel.

"What's that noise?" Delilah asked after a few minutes that felt like hours in the darkness.

"Not sure exactly," Stella answered. There was a low mechanical throbbing. "But I think it might be the pumps that keep the water from flooding the tunnel."

"Where do they pump the water?"

"There's no time for those kinds of questions."

"You just don't know, do you?" Delilah guessed accurately.

"Sit," Stella commanded as way of a response. She pushed Delilah down into a crouching position in what she assumed was the edge of the tunnel. Escape seemed unlikely; it was a better bet to wait out the vigilantes and hope no one would bother going as deep into the tunnel as they had.

"How long do we have to wait here in the dark?" Delilah asked.

"You are the one who wanted me to turn off the light."

"But, you're the adult."

"Just be quiet for a bit," Stella ordered. They sat in darkness with the pumps humming around them.

"Who are you?"

"What?"

"I want to know who the strange woman who dragged me in a dark tunnel is. Seems like a reasonable question to me."

"Fair enough. I'm Stella Mooney. I'm a detective."

"Detective?"

"Yeah, what do you think? When young girls go missing, they're going to call someone to find them."

"Not in New Helvetia," Delilah said. "They would call the Deacon, not a detective."

"Well, someone called us. Or at least they called Genesis. I think. I'm not sure anymore."

"Why would they do that?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. What did you do to make Genesis want you? Or at least make Bones want you?" Stella still did not know what Bones was up to. If Genesis wanted the girl, why was he keeping her away from his own corporation?

"Like I said, I don't know why."

"You must have done something to catch somebody's attention."

"I didn't do anything," Delilah said. "Literally nothing. I was sick, then I woke up, and then I ran off."

"Sick how?"

"With the virus."

"Impossible, no one ever recovers."

"I did."

"Are you sure it was the same virus? Maybe you came down with something else?"

"If I didn't get it then, I would have while locked in quarantine. It spreads like crazy."

"Crap!" Stella could not help but flinch. Delilah was right about how contagious the virus was. Sitting in the damp in close quarters to someone who had the virus was not a recipe for longevity.

"Rude!" Delilah snapped.

"What?" Stella asked attempting to maintain an air of innocence.

"You recoiled."

"Did not. How did you see that?"

"I just--"

"Shhh!" Stella interrupted. In the distance she saw a light bobbing. Then a second one joined it. Then a third. The three lighters came closer and closer.

"You see anything?" a voice asked when the lights stopped a few dozen feet from Stella and Delilah. The two women laid low to the ground hoping that the beams would not catch them.

"Nothing," said another vigilante shining his light in the tunnel.

"Well, let's go back. This place gives me the creeps."

Just then, Stella sneezed.

"What's that?" a vigilante called out.

"Did you sneeze?" the third vigilante asked.

"Wasn't me." The three lights came closer. Stella used all of her will to hold onto her next sneeze, but they always came in pairs. She sneezed again and found herself in the glare of the three beams of light.

"We got two of them," the vigilante called out.

"We're standing right here," one of the other vigilantes said. "No need to announce it." He and the remaining vigilante pulled Stella and Delilah to their feet and pushed them down towards the opening of the tunnel.

"Come on, stay with me," she said to Delilah.

"Yeah, because that worked so well last time." Delilah said.

"No talking," the vigilante ordered.

"Or what?" Stella asked.

"Or, um, we, just no talking," stammered the vigilante.

"We don't like this anymore than you do," one of the vigilantes added as they led Stella and Delilah down the tunnel.

"Since we are the ones being imprisoned, I sincerely doubt that," Stella said.

"Ouch!" the vigilante restraining Delilah yelled and released his hold on the girl. Delilah had kicked him in the crotch and ran off.

"Get her!" yelled the vigilante leading the group down the tunnel.

"You get her, I'm holding this one!" the other vigilante said.

"I'll get her," Stella said following Delilah's example by kicking the man holding her. She broke loose and chased after Delilah. They ran towards the night club. It was nearly deserted. Only one or two vigilantes remained going over the scene of the raid. They were too surprised to try to stop Stella or Delilah.

"Up here," Stella called to Delilah. She had overtaken the young girl and led her up the broken escalator towards the night club exit. They exited the alleyway and darted into the street just in time to almost be run over a bus. The vehicle screeched to a halt and two vigilantes leaped out and tackled Stella.

"We can't catch a break," Stella sighed as they lugged her and Delilah onto the bus. It was filled with the other night club visitors. Stella looked around to try to find Charles, but the chimpanzee was nowhere to be seen.

"Where are they taking us?" Delilah asked as she and Stella were forcibly placed in the last empty seat at the back of the bus.

"Where they quarantine all the humans," Stella answered, "Alcatraz."

#

Chapter 8

"Hey, you!" the bouncer shouted at Charles who sat at the bar trying to make friends.

"Me?" Charles asked. The interruption was actually a welcome respite from the unfriendly stares and glares of the humans at the bar.

"Yeah, let's go," the bouncer said placing his hand on Charles' arm.

"You can't kick me out, I'm a human just like everyone else!" Charles exclaimed.

"Yeah, not so much. And I'm not kicking you out, I'm going to bring you--"

"This is discrimination!" Charles shouted. "Just because I have a hair loss problem doesn't mean you can exclude me!" He broke away from the bouncer's grasp. He may have had a drink or two more than he should have and misjudged his strength, because in the process he managed to fling the bouncer across the bar.

"Oh, sorry," Charles said seeing the damage he'd done. The bartender grabbed a whistle and started blowing it. "That hardly seems called for," Charles said as vigilantes flooded the bar. "It was just a friendly disagreement."

"It's a raid you stupid ape!" one of the other drinkers shouted as he dove behind the bar to avoid capture. It was a futile action as the bartender was in on the ruse and was there waiting for him.

"Oh, what a relief," Charles sighed. He had been worried he was in trouble. Then it occurred to him that Stella was the one in trouble. He quickly finished his drink, which somehow had survived the chaos with the bouncer, and then leaped off his stool to look for her.

"Stella!" he called over the yells and shouts of the crowd. The club was in chaos. It was nearly impossible to tell which people where with the vigilantes, and which had been unsuspecting night club customers. Even the humans themselves were having trouble telling who was who. He looked around but could not see her in the mass of humans. He raced to the set of stairs and looked down. He saw her on the floor below.

"Stella! Stella!" he yelled out to her and attempted to race down the stairs. Unfortunately, this entailed him going against the crowd that was attempting to flee up the stairs. "Sorry! Excuse me! Coming through!" Charles yelled as he forced his way down the stairs pushing humans to the side. A real human would have been unsuccessful, but a shaved chimpanzee pretending to be a human, had no difficulty. As Charles explained to Stella, chimps and humans were 98% genetically similar. The remaining 2% made all the difference in terms of strength and center of gravity. As Charles went barreling down the stairs, humans went barreling over the handrails.

"Come this way!" Charles yelled grabbing Stella's hand. He pulled her to the side of the club. "The vigilantes have the entrance covered," he explained. "We need a Plan B." He found a set of metal doors and pulled them open. It turned out they opened into an old elevator. Its days of operationally were long behind it, but Charles hoped that even without electricity that it would still lead to an escape. He pulled Stella in behind him and pushed the doors shut.

"Up here," he said feeling for the emergency door in the elevator's ceiling. It was pitch black, but he managed to get it open. He wrapped one arm around Stella and lifted himself up on to the top of the elevator. He felt in the darkness for the cables and sighed with relief when he found them. They were still attached and taut.

"Lucky for us," he said pulling himself up the cable with his one arm and feet, "I only look like a human." This did not dignify a response from Stella. Charles climbed until he came to the top of the elevator shaft. Then, still gripping the cable with one arm, Stella, with his other, he reached out with his foot and felt the side of the shaft for the door. While it took several tries, he eventually found it and was able to pry it open enough that he was able to push Stella through and then follow himself.

"You okay?" he asked Stella who lay on the ground gasping. It was too dark out and he couldn't tell if she was injured or not. "Sorry about the grip, but better too tight than too lose." They lay on the damp cement of what Charles eventually determined was a different alleyway than the one they had entered the club.

"We can't stay here," he said pulling Stella up, "come on." They silently made their way back in the dark to their apartment building. Charles had to carry Stella back up the fire escape. She seemed all out of sorts and not her normal self. He was worried that she might have internal organ damage. It wasn't until he got her inside their apartment and turned on the lights that he realized the full extent of the problem.

"What!" he said staring down at her. "You're not Stella!"

"Sorry pal, afraid not." The human wheezed as he caught his breath.

"I knew I was right," Charles said under his breath. All humans did look the same.

"Names Winston Whittaker," the man said sitting up extending his hand. "Thanks for helping me out of that jam. Would have said something sooner but wasn't physically capable. Plus, it seemed like things were going in a positive direction for me."

"Hi, I'm Charles," Charles said shaking the hand. "Sorry to run, but I need to get back and get--"

Just then they were interrupted by the sound of the front door splintering.

"Hide!" Charles hissed to Winston. He pointed down the hall. Winston did not have to be told twice. He darted down the hall and into the bathroom.

"What do you think you are doing!" Charles shouted as two vigilantes burst in.

"What are we doing? What are you doing here?" the vigilante in front replied.

"I live here!" Charles shouted.

"Well then you are under arrest," the vigilante said. "Or are supposed to be. We were told to come to the property and secure all the records and documents."

"Under arrest for what?" Charles asked.

"Let's see," the vigilante said taking a form from his pocket and reading it. "Abetting a human violate quarantine. Pretty serious if you ask me."

"That's nonsense," Charles lied. "I've been here the whole night."

"He does have a point," the second vigilante said speaking up for the first time. "There wasn't supposed to be anyone here. Sounds like some sort of mistake."

"No mistake about it," the other vigilante said. "Mr. Bones was very clear. The ape and woman were to be apprehended tonight. Then we were to come here and remove all the evidence."

"He said that?" Charles asked.

"I'll try giving him a call," the second vigilante said taking a radio out of his pocket.

"I guess we'll have to arrest you ourselves," the first vigilante said.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Charles said. "I've never helped a human break quarantine. Why, Stella's right here now in the apartment."

"Nonsense," the vigilante said.

"No response from Bones," the second vigilante said. "I'll try again in a bit."

"She's in the restroom," Charles said.

"Impossible," the first vigilante said.

"Yep, food poisoning," Charles said elaborating.

"Food poisoning?" the vigilante asked. For the first time, a note of uncertainty entered his voice.

"Yep, she ate some bad fish," Charles said, which was almost the truth considering the sorry state of the shad Stella had brought to the apartment the other day. "It's really bad food poisoning," he reiterated. Just then the sound of the shower was heard from the bathroom. Charles silently cursed Winston.

"Is that the shower?" the vigilante asked.

"Like I said," Charles added. "It's really bad."

"Come on," the vigilante said motioning to his partner.

"Boss, clearly there is some mistake here. Why don't we just wait until we hear from Bones."

"Yeah, listen to him," Charles said following them towards the bathroom. "What do you think you are doing?"

"You can't pull a fast one on us," the vigilante said. "I'm not going back to Bones and telling him a monkey tricked me."

"First of all--" Charles began correcting the vigilante. But he was interrupted when the vigilante threw open the bathroom door and barged in. Steam poured out followed by a high-pitched scream.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" The vigilante said rushing out of the room.

"What did you think was going to happen?" Charles asked.

"Not your finest moment, boss," the second vigilante said.

"But Bones specifically said that--" the vigilante stammered.

"You better get out of here. I'll try to calm her down. I'd hate for Genesis to hear that their employees have a penchant for barging in on showering women," Charles offered. "I used to work for them, and I know for certain that's against the sexual harassment policy."

"Again, I thought--never mind," the vigilante said. "Come on." The two vigilantes left the apartment without saying another word.

"All right, coast is clear," Charles called out to Winston as soon as he was sure they were gone. "That was quick thinking. Although the real Stella would have just clocked him, not screamed."

"Sounds like a delightful lady," Winston answered coming out wearing a towel. "Thanks for saving me again."

"My pleasure," Charles said. "I was sort of saving myself though."

"It would have been bad politics for me to have been caught in an illegal night club," Winston continued. "Even with the diplomatic immunity."

"I have to go and rescue--wait, diplomatic immunity?" Charles asked.

"Yes, U.N. Ambassador for France," Winston answered from back in the bathroom. He re-emerged fully dressed.

"Est-ce que tu parles français?" Charles asked.

"What?"

"I thought you were a diplomat?"

"Yes, but I didn't say I was a very good one. With the plague, options were limited. It was more of a 'who' you know sort of job opportunity, not a 'what' do you know opportunity."

"Well, who do you know?" Charles asked.

"The right people," Winston smiled handing him a business card. "Give me a call if you ever need a favor."

"Wait, I could use some help in finding my--" but it was already too late. The diplomat was out the door and down the hall.

As soon as the diplomat left, Charles had rushed back to the night club to see if he could find Stella. By the time he arrived, the only humans in sight were vigilantes who had taped off the entrance to the club and were milling about.

Charles decided to not push his luck any further at the scene of the crime. He had several near escapes that night and it was only a matter of time until Bones figured out the what happened and sent more vigilantes after him. If Charles got caught, there would be no one to rescue the real Stella.

#

Chapter 9

Charles went to the building where Edna had her office. He decided after leaving the night club that the next step would be to confront Edna about her role in the set up. Besides, he did not have anywhere else to go; he knew it would only be a matter of time before Genesis sent more vigilantes to his apartment. He hung out across the street from the office building within view of the doors but off to the side as to not attract attention. He staked-out the building for the entire morning and much of the afternoon but did not see Edna enter.

"I don't have time for this," he said giving up on the stake-out. He went to the building and took the elevator up to the fifth floor to Edna's office. The elevator doors opened on a short hallway that led to the architecture firm's reception area.

"Hello," Charles said to the elderly gibbon sitting at the receptionist's desk. "I'm here to see Edna."

"Do you have an appointment?" the gibbon asked adjusting his glasses.

"Uh no, it's a personal matter," Charles replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry, this is a professional office. You must have mistaken it for a personal office," the gibbon said.

"Listen, it's important," Charles said to the snarky gibbon.

"Not important enough to make an appointment apparently," the gibbon said.

"Is Edna here or not?" Charles asked.

"Who may I say is asking?" the gibbon asked.

"Charles, Charles Knight," Charles answered.

"Ah, I see," said the Gibbon, "Edna said to call her right away if you showed up."

"I thought she would," Charles said going to her office door.

"Wait, you can't--" the gibbon said rushing to stop Charles from entering Edna's office. He was a bit too slow. Charles flung the door open to an empty office.

"She's not here?" he asked perplexed.

"I would have told you that if you waited," said the gibbon returning to his desk and picking up a phone.

Charles did not care for this at all. He had no idea what Edna was up to, or who the gibbon was calling. He wasn't going to wait around to find out.

"Hey, wait!" the gibbon yelled out as Charles rushed towards the door. Charles did stop, but only for a moment to go over to the gibbon's desk and grab the schedule book that was sitting on the desktop.

"You can't take that!" the gibbon shouted as Charles head out the door with the book. However, the receptionist made no attempt to stop him. Charles took the elevator down and exited the building. He walked quickly for a few blocks and as soon as he was sure the gibbon was not following him, he stopped at a park bench to look through the planner.

"That traitor!" Charles said when he looked at what Edna had written in the planner for that evening. There was an emergency meeting of POOP. The events of the night before, and the fact he had not been told about the meeting was too much of a coincidence. Charles threw the planner in the first trash bin he came too and hustled over the few blocks to the meeting room.

For a last-minute meeting, attendance was pretty decent. Charles appreciated the turnout as it allowed him to sit in the back of the room and observe. The meeting had just started a few minutes prior to his arrival and Edna had the floor.

"Obviously, Mr. Knight is incapable of serving as secretary--" Edna was interrupted by protests from the chimpanzees in the room. Elwin had to pound his gave to quiet the room before Edna could continue.

"As I was saying, being a fugitive, Charles can't be our secretary. Therefore, I propose that I take his place."

"Nonsense!" someone in the audience yelled to much agreement.

"We all know he had a strange relationship with humans," Edna countered. "We tried to warn him, but it is his own fault that he got caught up in things he didn't understand."

"We are all innocent until proven guilty," Elwin said quieting the crowd down again. "But unfortunately, Edna does have a point. I think it is best thing for our group's reputation for us to assume Charles has resigned his position."

"In that case," Edna said approaching the front of the room and taking up Charles' vacant chair, "I think the first order of business--"

"Hold on there," Elwin said, "there's an order to this and a process, you can't just--"

He was, in turn, interrupted by Bernard who had been unusually quiet for the whole proceedings.

"I think I have something that bears on this," he said approaching the front of the room. There were moans from many in the audience. Bernard ignored them. "I have incontrovertible evidence that Magic Monkey Mountain exists!" There was another round of moans.

"Magic Monkey Mountain?" Elwin asked.

"What does this have to do with Charles?" Edna asked.

"It doesn't, I just said that to get your attention," Bernard said in answer to Edna. "I was thinking of Awesome Ape Apex," he said turning to Elwin, "which would be more accurate and equally alliterative, but it didn't quite roll off the tongue as well."

"What are you talking about?" Elwin asked.

"Magic Mountain Monkey!" Bernard exclaimed excitedly. "It's where all the fresh fruit and vegetables are coming from!"

"We don't have time for this nonsense," Edna said.

"I agree," Elwin said, "but that's not to say that you are secretary. We have to--"

"I have here in my hand," Bernard said ignoring them, "signed and sworn affidavits that the mountain exists!" He waved a sheath of papers in his hand. Elwin snatched them out.

"Hey, I have to protect my sources!" Bernard said.

"Sources? Or smugglers?" accused Edna.

"This is your proof?" Elwin asked incredulously. "These are all signed by you!"

"And I swore to them!" Bernard said. The rest of the apes began booing him.

"I propose that we officially ban Bernard and Charles from the organization!" Edna announced. Tying Charles with the unpopular Bernard was too savvy a move for Edna to pass up.

"You can't do--" Elwin began.

"Seconded!" a voice called out from the audience.

"All in favor?" Edna asked. The room resounded with ayes.

"All opposed?" Edna asked

"Nay!" Bernard said.

"Very well, on to the next order of business." Edna said. "Let's cut back some of these fees for those of us in the construction business."

Charles did not bother to stick around. The writing on the wall was clear that his time in San Francisco was up. He slunk out of the room and exited the building from a back door. He had just made it outside and into the shadows when the door burst open behind him and Bernard was thrown out. Or at least, as much as it was possible for a fully-grown orangutan to be thrown.

"You okay?" Charles asked.

"Charles? Is that you?" Bernard said dusting himself off. "Looks like the two of us are in the same boat."

"Possibly, but not for the same reasons."

"Well, like they say, there's many paths up the mountain."

"I think everyone has had enough talk of mountains for one evening," Charles said.

"Oh, we're just getting started!" Bernard said.

"We?"

"What, you have anything better to do? We are both banned. Banned and shunned, Charles! Banned and shunned!"

"Quiet down," Charles said. He led the orangutan away from the alley. "And yes, I do have better things to do. I have to rescue Stella."

"Stella?"

"Yes, my partner."

"Oh, wink, wink, say no more," Bernard said.

"Partner in my detective agency," Charles said, deciding to say some more.

"Well, you aren't going to save anyone standing around the street here!" Bernard said. "Let's get a move on."

"On to where?"

"To the Bohemian Club, of course."

"The Bohemian Club?"

"Yes, my, ahem, associates," Bernard explained as he led Charles down the street. "They'll help us out, for a price."

"You mean your smugglers?" Charles said making the connection.

"Smugglers? How coarse. They are a group of renegade humans. The fallen elite desperate to reclaim their city! Now, if they happen to do a little bit of smuggling, that's just the price of revolution."

"What are you talking about?" Charles asked.

"Well, the Bohemian Club has a long history," Bernard said sitting down on the curb to recite it.

"Let's have the short version. And let's walk and talk," Charles said hoisting the ape up again.

"Not everyone was happy with the way Genesis took over the city," Bernard continued.

"Was anyone happy?" Charles couldn't help but interrupt.

"Well, I assume Genesis was."

"Touché."

"Anyway," a bunch of humans, many of them where the city's movers and shakers before the quarantine, went off to the Marin Headlands and are plotting to overthrow the company and take the city back."

"Oh no, not again," Charles said stopping. "Secret organizations of renegade humans? I'm not falling for that again."

"What?" Bernard asked. Charles gave him the brief summary of how Edna and Bones had set him up.

"Well, of course Edna betrayed you," Bernard said. "She gets all her business from Genesis. If you wanted information, why didn't you come to me?"

"I did come to you!" Charles snapped.

"Oh, well, let bygones be bygones," Bernard said and continued on his way.

"How is this supposed to help me rescue Stella?" Charles said catching up with him.

"Rescue Stella? I thought we were going to Magic Monkey Mountain?" Bernard asked.

"Bernard, focus! This is serious. If they sent her to quarantine, she doesn't have much time until she catches the virus."

"Yeah, I don't think the humans really have a good concept of what quarantine is supposed to do," Bernard observed. "If you asked me--"

"Bernard!"

"Oh, well, I'm sure my friends at the Bohemian Club will be eager to help out a human and strike a blow against Genesis. They can't do much, they don't want to get the virus themselves. See, they actually understand what quarantine is, but they can probably equip you and point you in the right direction."

"How do we get there?" Charles asked. He was a bit skeptical about anything to do with Bernard, but he figured anyway off San Francisco Island was one step closer to finding Stella.

"We take the Golden Gate Bridge of course," answered Bernard.

"We can't," Charles said.

"Because it's haunted? That's actually a myth," Bernard explained.

"No, because Genesis has guards on the bridge," Charles said. "To keep humans from entering or leaving."

"We're not humans," pointed out Bernard.

"But they are looking for me," Charles said. "Do they really let you smuggle things back and forth?"

"Oh no, that would be foolish of them," Bernard said, "I go under the bridge."

"Under?"

"Like a self-respecting Orangutan!" Bernard said proudly holding up his arms.

#

Chapter 10

Charles and Bernard made their way through the dark city and climbed the hills of the Presidio. They reached the Golden Gate Bridge just before daybreak. It was still dark enough that they could see the flashlights of the vigilantes guarding the entrance of the bridge.

"Stupid humans," Bernard muttered, "thinking that there's only one way to cross. Come this way." He pulled back some bushes and revealed a narrow path. Charles followed him down the path which took them below the bridge's entrance and along the shore.

"This is the hard part," Bernard said pointing up at the first support of the bridge. "Once we shimmy up there, it's all easy."

"I see," Charles said skeptically looking out at the expanse of bridge. He did not disbelieve that climbing the support was going to be difficult. Rather, he had trouble believing that the rest of the endeavor was going to be easy. Charles was not in bad shape, but he had led a pretty sedentary lifestyle aboard the Genesis spaceships. Just thinking of swinging across the bottom of the mile and half long bridge made his arms ache.

"Are you sure this is the best way?" he asked Bernard.

"Nope," Bernard said, "but it's the only way I know."

"I suppose it's too late for a second opinion?" Charles asked.

"Don't worry about it," Bernard reassured him. "Just do what I do." With that, the orangutan pulled off his shirt and pants and stood in the brisk San Francisco night in a quite revealing pair of thong underwear.

"Uh, what?" Charles asked.

"I don't want to be burdened down with clothes," Bernard said doing some stretches. "This way I have a full range of flexibility."

"I see," Charles said. He did, quite literally, as Bernard was currently doing lunges.

"Come on!" Bernard said.

"I don't think so," Charles said. "Without my hair, it will be kind of chilly."

"Fine, suit yourself," Bernard said. "Ha get it! Suit as in--"

"Let's get a move on," Charles said interrupting.

The two apes waded through the shallow water to the base of the support, then started to climb.

"Remember, just don't look down," Bernard whispered to Charles.

"Or up," Charles added accidentally glancing up and catching the unflattering sight of Bernard's scantily clad bottom.

After several minutes of effortful climbing, they reach the underside of the bridge. Charles paused, sitting on a protruding bar, to catch his breath.

"Now it's easy," Bernard said. "The bridge is pretty old though, so make sure you just grab on to the parts that I do. You don't want anything to break off and lose your grip."

"Fine, fine," Charles said whispering. "Just quiet down and don't blow our cover."

"What could they do even if they heard us?" Bernard said. "Hello! Stupid humans!" he yelled out.

"Quiet! Let's not find out," Charles suggested. He waited for the beams of the flashlights to fall on them, or shots to ring out. Luckily, all that he could hear was the wind. He followed Bernard who began swinging, hand over hand, along the various bars and cables that lined the bottom of the bridge. Charles soon found out that Bernard had not been kidding about the bridge being old. There was rust and broken pieces of metal jutting out at weird angles. It took quite a bit of coordination to grab the correct hand holds while avoiding being slashed by the tetanus infected edges. They got about halfway across when Charles heard eerie noises from below:

"Take no prisoners! It's a massacre!"

"Hail the Bear Flag Republic!"

"Bernard!" Charles called out, forgetting the vigilantes above, "I hear voices!"

"Oh, those are just ghosts," Bernard called out casually from up ahead.

"Ghosts!" Charles gasped. As a chimpanzee of science, he did not believe in such superstitions. However, as a chimpanzee suspended in the dark from a scary ancient bridge, he was more open minded. "I thought you said that the bridge wasn't haunted?"

"It isn't," Bernard, turning to face Charles, answered. "But the sea, well, that's a whole different matter."

"I'm having second thoughts about this," Charles said, even though it was obvious it was too late to turn back. The thought of ghosts was turning his already sore arms into jelly.

"Come on, Charles!" Bernard encouraged. "Stay focused! Keep your eyes on the ball!"

"I can't look away," Charles said. It was true; the effort of crossing the bridge had caused Bernard's underwear to shift.

"Just think about all of those who love you," Bernard said, trying to motivate Charles. "How about that human? Do it for your unnatural love affair!"

"It's not like that!" Charles reminded Bernard. "We're just friends."

"Oh, well you must have someone," Bernard said. "How about a wife?"

"She left me," Charles answered.

"Oh dear," Bernard said. His pep talk was not producing the success he had hoped. "How about any family. Got any brothers or sisters? Mom or dad?"

"Let's just keep going," Charles said.

"No one?" Bernard said, "Gee, I'm sorry Charles. Maybe the bridge wasn't the best place to bring you."

"Bernard, I'm ready to go!" Charles shouted.

"No, don't let go!" Bernard shouted back. "I'm sure you have a lot to live for. Nothing comes immediately to mind, but let's just keep brainstorming."

"No, Bernard, I want to go to the other side!"

"No Charles! I won't let you. I mean, I can't really stop you without letting go myself, but--"

"Of the bridge! Other side of the bridge!" Charles clarified.

"Oh, yes, that makes sense," Bernard said and resumed his lead. They made the rest of their way in silence, Charles listened, but he heard no further sign of the ghosts below.

When they got to the other side, Bernard led them up and onto the top surface of the bridge. Genesis did not guard this end. Bernard made a rude symbolic gesture to the guard post on the other end.

"See! Easy as pie!" Bernard said. "Your existential crisis aside, of course."

Charles lay on the solid ground, relieved to have made it over.

"No time for a nap," Bernard said. Running off into the woods that covered the Marin Headlands. Charles got to his feet and looked across the bridge. He forewent the gesture but did take the opportunity to look back at the city that had been his first home on Earth.

"Goodbye," he sighed before turning away and following Bernard.

#

Chapter 11

"Hello fellas," Bernard said, "I'd like you to meet my friend Charles." Bernard and Charles hung suspended in a net above the air. While Bernard had shown himself to be very capable exiting San Francisco, he had proven a less reliable guide once outside the city. He spent most of the day leading Charles on a maze throughout the Marin Headlands until he blundered into a trap. They had been hanging for an hour or so until a group of humans came upon them.

"Hello Bernard," a human woman said. She pulled a rope at the base of a tree and the knot holding the net together came undone and Bernard and Charles spilled out on the ground.

"Any friend of Bernard's is a friend of mine," the woman said extending her hand to Charles. "But I would have to question their judgment," she added. "My name is Anne Livingston."

"Charles Knight," Charles said untangling himself from Bernard and shaking the woman's hand."

"We didn't expect you back so soon, Bernard," Anne said. "Unfortunately, we don't have much in the way we can sell you. Your last trip cleaned out our inventory."

"Yeah, well, the good news is that I'm not here for that," Bernard answered. "The bad news is that I'm going to have to put the business on hold for a while."

"Oh, they found you out?" Anne asked.

"Let's just say things went south and there was some shunning," Bernard replied. "Much of it was Charles' fault though."

"My fault?" Charles asked. "You were the one that kept blabbing about Magic Monkey Mountain!"

"It takes two to shun, Charles," Bernard pointed out.

"That makes no sense," Charles complained. "Did the net cut off the blood to your brain?"

"Don't worry about him," Anne said. "We all know Bernard and his stories. Let's get you guys back to camp." The humans led Charles and Bernard through the woods and back to their camp. Along the way, Charles told Anne about his run in with Genesis and the need to rescue Stella from quarantine.

"So, you want to strike a blow against Genesis?" Anne asked as waited for the others to prepare dinner.

"Well, mostly I want to save my friend," Charles said. "I don't really have much against Genesis, I actually used to work for them."

"You did?" Anne asked eagerly. "Bernard, why didn't you say that you had a friend on the inside?"

"I have a lot of friends," Bernard said. The smugglers had resupplied him with a filled flask.

"Used to work for them," Charles pointed out. "I don't anymore."

"Still, the symbolism," Anne said.

"Symbolism?" Charles asked.

"Of course! Just imagine, their ex-employee giving it all to attack Genesis! How inspiring," Anne said.

"Well, I guess when you describe it like that, yes," Charles agreed.

"It will work wonders for recruiting," Anne said.

"I wouldn't go so far to call myself a hero," Charles said, "but I do what I can. Especially if it helps Stella."

"Let's get you suited up," Anne said, "come and meet the professor."

"Well, okay," Charles said following Anne across the camp. "But really, Bernard is the one who needs a suit." While he replaced his drink, the orangutan was in no hurry to replace the clothes he had left behind. Anne led them through the camp, and they came to a wooden shack surrounded by charred debris and small craters.

"Here's the professor!" Anne said opening the door to the shack. "Charles, please meet Professor Sanders, our demolitions expert."

"Demolitions?" Charles asked, "I don't see what explosives have to do with--"

"Professor, Charles here is a new recruit," Anne said introducing him, "and he said he's willing to give everything to strike a blow against Genesis!"

"Wait, did I say that?" Charles asked.

"Best of all," Anne continued, "he used to work for them! They'll never see it coming!"

"Just to clarify," Charles said trying to steer the conversation back to rescuing Stella, "my main purpose is--"

"Excellent!" the professor interrupted. "I have the perfect thing in mind. Come on over here and check this out. The professor pointed to a pile of wires around some mysterious packages wrapped in plastic. "This should strike just the blow you are looking for."

"Yeah, I suppose it would. But isn't that pretty dangerous?" Charles asked the professor.

"Oh Charles," Bernard said. "Are you one of those good-doers that the professor always is warning me about? Bombs don't kill people. People kill people. With bombs."

"Precisely, Bernard! I couldn't say it better myself!" the professor exclaimed.

"I guess--" began Charles.

"Do you want it in a vest or suitcase?" the professor asked looking up from his table.

"Want what?" Charles asked

"The bomb! The bomb! What else! Please, this is serious work, pay attention," the Professor scolded.

"I definitely prefer the suitcase," Charles said. Stella was his friend, but he was not going to be blowing himself up for her.

"Figures," Bernard said. "Always afraid of commitment, no wonder your marriage did not work out."

"How long will it take to get ready?" Anne asked the professor.

"I should have it finished by tomorrow morning," the professor answered. "I just need to put the last touches on it."

"Hooray!" Anne shouted. "Death to Genesis!"

"Yes, death to Genesis, not to Charles!" Charles tried to point out. But neither Bernard, Anne, nor the professor paid his concerns any attention.

"We'll never forget your sacrifice," Anne said to Charles.

"Really, I don't plan to--"

"Remember, I was the one who introduced you," Bernard cut in.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Anne asked.

"Yes, again, my friend--"

"Of course, we'll remember her sacrifice too," Anne said.

"How about some grub?" Bernard asked. "Fill us up a little bit? That way, there'll be more of Charles to blow up."

"Excellent! Tonight, we feast!" Anne announced and left the laboratory to make preparations for the celebration.

"Listen," Charles said after she left, "This has gone on too long. Far from it for me to contradict a man of science--"

"Science?" asked the professor.

"Yeah, you're a professor," Charles said. "I'm guessing chemistry or physics?"

"Oh my no, comparative literature," the professor said.

"Oh dear," Charles said.

"That's exactly what my parents said when I told them," Sanders sighed.

"Well, that aside, although I would like to revisit it later, I just want to reiterate that the goal is to rescue my friend, not blow her up. And certainly not blow myself up."

"To-ma-to to-mah-to," the Professor said.

"Exactly," Bernard chimed in waving his flask around, "once we get to Magic Mountain, sorry, I mean Monkey Magic, I mean, plenty of tomatoes for everyone!"

"Again, I'm a guest here, and I don't want to criticize, but I think we are getting some of our messages crossed," Charles said trying to steer the conversation back on course. The professor and Bernard were both taking liberal sips from Bernard's flask. Call him old fashioned, but Charles thought it best not to mix alcohol and explosives.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" he asked.

"Doing what?" the Professor asked. "Who's the expert, me or you?"

"Neither, from the sounds of it," Charles murmured. But he saw that he was not going to make any progress. Since he felt that he was endangering his life every second he remained in the shack, he excused himself and went back outside. There were cheers and shouts when the rest of the Bohemian Club saw him.

"Thank you," he said, "but really, this is all a big misunderstanding. Why thank you," he said as someone handed him a drink. "Now, if I can help without--"

"Charles! Charles! Charles!" the crowd shouted, drowning out his words. Someone handed him a large chicken leg and then thrust another drink at him. It occurred to him that he had not eaten for a long time. Tomorrow was a long way off, and there would be plenty of time to extricate himself out of his suicide mission. Besides, he always thought better on a full stomach.

"Well," he said, "as long as we are all agreed," he said taking a bite out the chicken leg. "Then hooray for me and death to Genesis!"

#

Chapter 12

Things were going from bad to worse for Stella. She kept reliving the capture in the subway tunnel, only this time, rather than vigilantes, her pursuers were super-intelligent octopuses.

"Stay quiet," Stella whispered to Delilah, who had for some reason transformed into a large flightless woodpecker, "stay quiet and everything will be okay."

Delilah looked at her, flapped her wings and then proceeded to peck Stella's brains out.

"Stop! Stop!" Stella screamed. The pain in her head was unbearable. Then the octopi were upon her. She squirmed to try to escape, but it was no use, the tentacles surrounding her were slowly squeezing the breath out of her.

"Stop! Stop!" Stella screamed again. The octopi were clearly not interested in Delilah who was still pecking on Stella's skull.

"Stella!" Delilah shouted between pecks.

"No!" Stella moaned back.

"Stella! Wake up!" Delilah repeated still pecking her. This time, Stella opened her eyes for real. She found herself lying on a cot covered in sweat. Delilah was standing above her and repeatedly poking her in the head.

"Finally," Delilah said.

"What's wrong with you?" Stella asked groggily.

"What's wrong with me? Nothing. You're the one who's been out of it."

"I meant, why were you poking me? Never mind, where am I?"

"Still in quarantine at Alcatraz."

"What do you mean still?

"We've been here three days. Three very long, and very boring days."

"Three days? Last I remember was that we were in the subway tunnels."

"Well, you passed out pretty soon after we arrived. You were one of the first to go under."

"Under where?" Stella asked. She forgot that she was dealing with a fourteen-year-old. Delilah just began to laugh uncontrollably. After a few moments, Stella tried again, this time rephrasing her question.

"What happened to me?"

"You got really sick and almost died," Delilah answered. "But the key word there is 'almost.' You're better off than those guys." Delilah said pointing to a row of empty cots across the dimly lighted room.

"Who? No one's there."

"Yep, they took the last body out this afternoon. You have the dubious distinction of being the first one captured who got sick, but the last one to die."

"I haven't died yet," Stella said sitting up.

"Yeah, you're welcome."

"Welcome?"

"Yeah, for not dying."

"Ah, thanks? I guess?"

"Yeah, you should be thankful."

"Oh, I forgot, New Helvetia is pretty religious." Stella was not very spiritual, but she had to admit that Delilah had a point. She was better off than the other victims of the virus.

"No, I meant thankful to me."

"To you? What did you do?"

"Clearly I infected you."

"And why should I thank you for that? You almost killed me."

"Again, 'almost.' Everyone else the vigilantes caught that night came down with the same, boring, old-fashioned virus that kills everyone. You caught my exciting new type of virus that only almost kills you."

"Gee," was all Stella could say.

"Gee? That's all you can say?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"How about: 'Thanks Delilah for saving me--"

"Saving me? That seems a bit--"

"\--How about I help you escape?' After all, it's your fault that I'm in here."

"My fault? How is it my fault?"

"I was fine until I met you."

"You were a runaway living in an underground in a night club. That's not 'fine.'"

"Beats Newer Helvetia. And anyway, what are your alternatives. Do you want to stay here in quarantine? What do you think they're going to do once they find out we aren't going to die? Best case scenario, we spend the rest of our short lives in a lab while godless socialist scientists harvest our organs to power their abortion crystals."

"Whoa, what did they teach you about science back in that cult of yours? Never mind don't answer, I don't even want to know." Stella said swinging her legs off the side of the cot. Her feet were asleep, and she had to massage her muscles to get her circulation flowing. "But you do have a point. Not about the scientists. But, yeah, our not being dead is bound to generate some unwanted attention. I'm guessing that's why you ran off the first time?" Stella did not say it out loud, but it also explained Genesis' interest in finding the girl. Whatever kept her, and Stella, safe from the virus was bound to cut into their vaccine's profit margin.

"Gee, what a brilliant detective you are." Delilah sneered.

"Can the sarcasm and help me up." Delilah helped Stella stand. It took a few moments for her to find her feet and regain her balance.

"You okay?" Delilah asked.

"Okay? Let's see, I just survive a deadly virus and have not eaten, drank, or gone to the bathroom in three days. Yeah, I'm great."

"Now who's being sarcastic."

"Sorry."

"At least you were unconscious. I had to sit around and wait while everyone died."

"You're right, I'm sorry, that must have been terrible." Stella could not imagine how awful it must have been for Delilah to be by herself while everyone around her died.

"Terrible? More like terribly boring."

"Wait, people died and your complaining about being bored?"

"Well, I almost died too. Of boredom."

"Well, sorry, I guess," Stella muttered. She hoped she had not been as callous when she was fourteen.

"It's okay. I actually didn't do that."

"Do what?"

"Sit around and wait. I tried escaping a few times."

"A few times?"

"Yeah, but I kept getting caught. This Alcatraz is a real prison."

"They didn't teach you much history either back in your cult, did they?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Stella said. "Since you are here, I'm guess you were unsuccessful?"

"Yeah, I got caught each time. I almost made it out once pretending to be dead. But when they threw me onto the corpse pile I screamed and blew it."

"I wouldn't kick yourself over it too hard," Stella sympathized.

"Well, what's the plan?" Delilah asked looking at Stella expectantly.

"Plan?"

"Yeah, what's your plan to escape?"

"I've been out for three days. I don't have a plan. What's your plan?"

"My plan? If I knew how to escape, I'd have escaped. You're the adult, you're supposed to be in charge."

"Fine," Stella muttered. Adulthood wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "Let's get the lay of the land. First, is anyone watching us?"

"What do you mean, like God?"

"No, I mean vigilantes."

"Oh, yeah, those. Yeah, they come and check on us every three hours or so. Pretty much to take out the dead."

"When was the last time they checked?" Stella asked.

"About three hours ago," Delilah pointed to the doorway as a vigilante entered.

"Crap," Stella said.

"What's going on here?" asked the vigilante.

"Um, um..." Stella stammered trying to buy a few moments to think. Nothing came to her mind, so she went and punched the vigilante in the face. The vigilante barely flinched.

"What was that?" the vigilante asked confused. Being bed bound for three days had left Stella weak.

"I'm not sure," Stella said.

"I think she meant this," Delilah said swinging a leg of a cot at the vigilante's head. The wooden leg cracked in half over the vigilante's skull and he dropped to the ground.

"Thanks for translating," Stella said.

"No problem. But if that's all you got, I'm not too impressed with your plan. I could have thought of doing that," Delilah said pointing to the unconscious vigilante.

"Sorry, I'm sort of playing it by ear," Stella said. "Let's go." Stella led Delilah out of the room and down a hallway.

"Hey, Robert, is everything--" another vigilante stopped in mid-sentence as he exited one room and came face to face with Stella and Delilah.

"Let's go this way instead," Stella said, and bolted down the hallway in the opposite direction. She and Delilah got to the end just as the vigilante pulled the alarm. Sirens blasted around them as they exited the building and found themselves in a courtyard.

"To the fence!" Delilah suggested pointing to the edge of the compound. Stella did not have any better suggestions, so they raced towards the fence.

"Here, I'll give you a boost," Stella offered.

"Thanks!" Delilah said ignoring Stella's bent knee. Instead she scrambled over Stella.

"Watch it!" Stella said as Delilah dug her feet into her back and jumped from her shoulders.

"Now give me a hand," Stella said once Delilah swung a leg over the top of the fence.

"There's no time," Delilah said dropping over the side of the fence and heading to the shore.

"What a brat," Stella said to herself as she began to climb the fence. She could hear the shouts of the vigilantes behind her but did not waste time looking over her shoulder. Once she got to the top, she half jumped, half fell off the other side and scrambled down the rocky shore after Delilah.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked when she finally caught up to the girl.

"Children first," Delilah said without any shame. "What do we do now?"

"I guess we swim," Stella said stepping into the surf.

"I can't swim."

"What do you mean you can't swim?"

"I never learned."

"Isn't new Helvetia surrounded by water?"

"We weren't allowed to wear swimsuits," Delilah explained. "They were too immodest. Here, I'll just ride on your back."

"That's not going to work," Stella said pushing Delilah off before the girl could get settled onto her shoulders.

"Well, we have to do something."

"We? What happened to 'we' back at the fence? Maybe there's a piece of driftwood you can use as a raft." Just then, Stella heard a bark.

"Well, New Helvetia taught you about miracles, right?" she asked Delilah as she shaded her eyes to look across the Bay. Against all odds, a sea lion was swimming in lazy circles nearby.

"Over here!" Stella shouted and waved the lion over. He swam over to them.

"Get on," Stella said as she scrambled onto the sea lion.

"No thanks," Delilah said.

"What? No seriously, get on behind me."

"I think I prefer my chances back in quarantine."

"You are afraid of a sea lion?" Stella asked incredulously.

"I'm afraid of most lions," Delilah said. "Especially the ones out in the sea. I can't swim remember."

"Well, I'm going. Stay if you want," Stella said and gestured to the sea lion to take her out into the Bay.

"Wait!" Delilah yelled at the last moment and ran after them. She threw herself behind Stella and clenched her eyes shut. The lion took them out into the Bay. Stella waited until they were in deeper water until she looked back. She was expecting to see a bunch of angry vigilantes on shore, or worse yet, in boats pursuing her. Instead there was just one figure.

"Stella!" the figure called out.

Stella looked, and then just gasped.

#

Chapter 13

It felt like he had only closed his eyes for a few minutes when Charles was kicked awake.

"There you are," the professor said, "I'm all done!"

"Done?"

"It took all night, and I could barely keep my eyes open, but it's done!" the professor said handing him a battered briefcase.

"Oh, gee, thanks," Charles said taking the case very, very, carefully. "Um, maybe you should take your time, double check everything? I'm in no hurry."

"No point, no point," the Professor said hustling Charles down a beaten path out of the camp. "But trust me, that will blow everyone sky high!"

"Again, I'm grateful for everything," Charles said, "but perhaps we should explore an alternate, maybe more subtle approach?"

"There's nothing subtle about explosions," the professor said dismissing Charles suggestion.

"Yeah, that's one of my several concerns," Charles replied. "But I've got it from here, why don't you go get some rest?"

"Just don't open it until you are ready," the professor added, turning towards his laboratory. He had no need to worry, Charles had no intention of ever opening the case. Charles looked around the camp. Everything was calm after an evening of celebrating; he saw no signs that anyone else was awake. He decided it was as good as a time as any to make his exit. If he waited, there was no telling how he would be able to get out of his suicide mission.

He found a path leading out of the camp and took it, lugging the briefcase with him; he figured it was safer with him. The Bohemian Club did not strike him as a safe place to leave explosives behind. The path curved through the woods and he had a pleasant morning walk until he came to the shore.

He waded out into the ocean and slapped the surface. He had to repeat the process every few minutes. After about half an hour, a sea lion approached.

"Ah, hello!" Charles said in what he prided himself was perfect Pinniped.

"Hello!" the sea lion replied.

"My name is Charles," Charles said introducing himself.

"My name is Charles," the sea lion said parroting him.

"Ah, what a funny coincidence. Well, pleasantries aside, I must get to that island out there," Charles the chimpanzee said pointing to Alcatraz.

Charles the sea lion looked at him confused for a bit, then rolled over on his back and exposed himself to the other Charles.

"Oh dear!" Charles said. Perhaps his Pinniped was not as flawless as he thought. "Interesting that's where your mind went. Well, lucky for you I used to be a therapist, so we'll have plenty of issues to work out on the trip over."

The lion righted himself and Charles climbed onto his back. The two of them set off to Alcatraz while Charles quizzed the sea lion about his early childhood. By the time they arrived at the old prison, Charles had come to several possible diagnoses explaining the sea lion's deviance. However, considering his lack of command over the Pinniped tongue, further progress was impossible.

"Make sure you make another appointment," Charles suggested as he hopped off the lion. The lion just barked in reply, waiting for Charles to throw it a few coins. Charles bounded off without paying the lion. It occurred to him that getting to Alcatraz was one thing; getting inside was a completely different matter. At least getting inside without getting captured.

He crept along the fence looking for a way in. Unfortunately, it was not long before he was spotted. He heard an alarm and found himself in the glare of a search light.

"Crap!" he said and began to run. Given that he was stuck on a small island, escape on foot proved to be a futile endeavor. Within minutes, he was surrounded by guards.

The vigilantes grabbed Charles and brought him to the gatehouse. He tried to throw them off, but he was far outnumbered. Plus, there was nowhere to run to even if he had been successful. He was shoved through the doors of the gatehouse and found himself facing the commander of the quarantine post.

"Hello," he said to the commander. "Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?" He figured that he was in enough trouble that a little politeness could not go astray.

"Cut the crap," the commander said. "What are you doing and where are the others?"

"The others?"

"Yes, yes," the commander said. "Obviously someone put you up to this. Was it those Bohemian Club terrorists?"

"Ah, I see," Charles said. "No, it's just me."

"Just you?"

"Why yes. I'd like to come in."

"Come in? Ridiculous! This is a quarantine building!"

"Oh, I can't get the virus, but thank you for your concern."

"What's wrong with this guy?" the commander asked the two vigilantes who had brought Charles in.

"There's nothing wrong with me," Charles said. "Why, is there a law against trying to come inside?"

"Come inside quarantine? You are honestly asking if there is a law about breaking into Alcatraz?"

"Yes," Charles said beginning to lose his patience. "Show me where it says a shaved chimpanzee can't come into Alcatraz."

"What's in the case?" the commander asked.

"The case? Oh this, you don't need to be concerned about this," Charles said. Having the vigilantes open the briefcase would not be conducive to his purposes and would likely be unhealthy for everyone within the blast radius.

"Get the case!" the commander ordered his subordinates. Luckily for everyone, an alarm sounded just then.

"I knew it!" the commander said. "He's just the distraction, we're under attack!" He ran out of the room followed by the other two vigilantes. Charles found himself alone in the gate house. With nothing else to do, he followed the vigilantes out into the quarantine courtyard.

The alarm was blaring, and guards were running about. The commander was yelling orders preparing for the large-scale assault he was assuming was eminent. The vigilante who was on duty at the time of the alarm was trying to tell him that there was no attack, but rather an escape.

Charles caught the word "escape" well before the commander did. He rushed across the yard to the chain linked fence. He looked out to the sea.

"Stella!" he yelled. But he was much too late to save her. It turned out she did not need it.

#

Chapter 14

"Hello Ray!" Devin said when Ray opened the door to the mansion.

"Devin? Edgar? What are you guys doing here?" Ray asked. The two robots stood on the doorstep in front of Dr. Lee's mansion. Ray had not seen his friends since Randolph Bones had assigned him to his new position on the other side of the moon.

"Well you rudely left in the middle of the game," Edgar said.

"Boy, it took forever for us to find you," Devin pointed out.

"Wait, did you guys go all the across the moon looking for me?" Ray asked. He was touched that his friends went to such lengths to find him. However, he was a bit concerned about the number of lunar residents they must have bothered in the process.

"That's how you play the game," Edgar said. "Although technically we were playing tag, not hide and seek."

"Hello Doctor Lee!" Devin said pushing past Ray and into the mansion. "Nice place you got here." Edgar followed him inside.

"This seems like a security breach," Dr. Lee said in way of greeting to the two robots. The doorbell had brought her to the door of her study to see who had arrived. They had met previously on board the ship on their flight to Earth and knew the robots' history of piracy.

"Don't worry, they are part of my team," Ray said.

"There are no teams in hide and seek," Edgar said.

"How reassuring that you are all on the same page and taking this so seriously," Lee said.

"Well, more guards, more security," Ray reasoned.

"Yes, I'm sure me and a teenage girl pose a great threat," Lee said sarcastically.

"Threat? It's my, I mean, now our, job to keep you guys safe," Ray said.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Lee said.

Ray was perplexed. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Listen, I may be stuck here with you watching over me, but don't treat me like an idiot," Lee said. I'm the one with the Nobel Prizes, not you.

"Whoa, what are you talking about?" Ray asked. While he had been in his new position for several days, he and Lee had not spent much time talking. Dr. Lee was rather aloof at the best of times, he had just assumed she was busy thinking and doing scientist stuff. However, it sounded like there was a more serious miscommunication happening. Before he could get to the bottom of it, the doorbell rang again.

"Oh, sounds like there's more of your so-called teammates," Lee said.

Ray went to answer the door again. Randolph Bones was standing on the step along with his twin brother, Samuel Bones, who was strapped into a wheelchair. In addition to being restrained, Samuel's nose was broken and his face heavily bruised.

"Why Randy, am I seeing double?" Ray asked upon opening it.

"Again, its Randolph, and very funny. Mr. Parallax, this is my brother Samuel," Randolph answered.

"Hello Sammy," Ray said. "I would shake, but you know, don't worry about it," he said gesturing to Samuel's strapped arms.

"Please, its Samuel," Randolph answered for his brother. "And I wouldn't get too close unless you are sure you took your daily vaccination."

"Why, was he on Earth too?"

"On Earth? Yes of course. Hasn't the Dr. Lee filled you in on the situation?" Randolph asked.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask about that. What exactly--wait, what situation?" Ray asked.

"The virus? The one that's wiping out humanity?" Randolph asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Ray asked.

"The girl has it. So does my brother," Randolph answered. "I assumed you knew. Why else do you think you're watching over an eminent virologist and a fourteen-year-old? You are not very sharp for a former detective, are you?"

"Jessica has the virus?" Ray asked jumping back. "You told me it was just a precaution!"

"I thought we'd ease you into the news," Randolph.

"How is she still alive? How is he alive?" Ray asked pointing to Samuel Bones. "For that matter, how am I still alive?"

"Well, you've been taking your vaccinations, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, there you go."

"But how about him," Ray said pointing to Samuel, "How is he still alive?"

"Through no fault of his own." Randolph said wheeling Samuel in. "Getting the virus was a cumulation of mistakes on his part."

"Is that what happened to his face?" Ray asked.

"As far as we are able to tell, that is related, but not a direct symptom," Randolph said. "But, unless you have a medical degree, perhaps you could step aside and let Dr. Lee take a look at him."

"Holy crap!" Dr. Lee said. The sight of Samuel's injuries brought forth one of her rare bursts of excitement. She came up behind Ray and knelt in front of Samuel. "What happened to him?"

"Rather than going through the proper channels, like he was supposed to," Randolph said in an accusatory tone, "my brother decided to side-step the company and take matters in his own hands. As you can see, it didn't work very well."

"Looks like blunt trauma to the face, and a similar strain of the virus as the girl has," Lee said examining her patient.

At the mention of "girl," Samuel started squirming in his chair and muttering under his breath.

"Some levels of psychosis too," Lee said. "I'm assuming that is why he's tied down?"

"Yes, he was left locked underground for a few days until we found him," Randolph said.

"Underground?" Ray asked.

"Stella!" Samuel shouted, speaking clearly for the first time.

"Please Ray, be considerate," Randolph snapped. "Don't excite him. You can see he's not well."

"Considering his multiple injuries, and other conditions," Ray still having trouble believing that Samuel had the virus and was still alive, "why is he here?"

"To see Dr. Lee of course!" Randolph said.

"Doesn't Genesis have doctors on Earth?" Ray asked. "I know the health care plan is stingy, but it can't be that bad."

"Not many doctors on Earth have experience with the virus," Dr. Lee said answering Ray's question. "At least, not the kind that they survive."

"Yes, on that topic," Ray said, "I have a few questions. Most paramount is am I going to die?"

"Yes of course," Dr. Lee said.

"What!" Ray exclaimed. It was not the answer he had been hoping for.

"We all die," Lee continued.

"Might want to work on your bedside manner doc," Ray said relieved.

"I'm not going anywhere near your bed," Lee muttered.

"One issue at a time," Ray said, "let's stick to the virus."

"It's pretty obvious that Jessica, and presumably Sam here, have a non-lethal strain," Dr. Lee said. "Some kind of mutation or genetic transferal."

"Please, Samuel," Randolph corrected. Samuel gurgled something in response.

"Non-lethal?" Ray asked.

"Yes, it doesn't kill you. Do you need to borrow some of the books in my study?" Lee said finishing up her examination of Samuel. "Maybe start with the dictionary."

"I know what the word means, but I thought the virus was always lethal," Ray asked.

"Well, you thought wrong," Lee said.

"We should trace his steps, see if he and Jessica had anything in common. If we can trace the source of the strain, we can--"

"Genesis is already on it," Randolph said cutting her off.

"Well, let me know what you find out," Lee said and headed back towards her study.

"Wait," Randolph said, "what about my brother?"

"What about him?" Lee asked.

"Well can you fix him?" Randolph asked,

"Fix him?" Lee asked

"Yes, he's insane!" Randolph said.

"Runs in the family," Ray muttered.

"Can't do much here for him," Lee said. "Maybe if we went back to my lab."

"Out of the question!" Randolph said.

"Wait, why is that out--" Ray asked,

"Well then," Lee said cutting him off, "you're on your own!" She slammed the door shut.

"What was that all about?" Ray asked.

"Well you know how she feels about the situation," Randolph answered.

"I don't, why does everyone keep assuming I do?" Ray asked.

"Grab his legs," Randolph said to Ray and began unstrapping Samuel.

"Excuse me?" Ray asked.

"Grab his legs," Randolph said pointing to Samuel's feet.

"I'm so confused," Ray said, "why can't we take him to the Doc's lab?"

"That would sort of defeat the whole purpose of you securing her," Randolph said. "Do you have his legs?"

"He's not crippled," Ray said but picked up Samuel's legs. His hold was not as tight as it could have been which was evident when Samuel immediately kicked Ray in the face and slipped the grasp of his brother.

"Dammit Ray!" Randolph said chasing after Samuel.

Ray's nose was gushing blood, but he wiped it out of his eyes and followed the two brothers to the best of his ability. The three men ran throughout the mansion and burst out the back door, Samuel leading the pack. However, he was stopped in his tracks at the sight of Jessica.

Samuel let out a blood piercing scream when he saw Delilah's twin. Randolph was close on his heels and collided with Samuel knocking him over. Ray managed to dodge the tangle of the two Bones. Or at least he did momentarily until Edgar slammed into him.

"British Bulldog!" Edgar yelled happily.

"Dammit Edgar!" Ray yelled as he struggled to crawl out the writhing mass of Randolph and Samuel. Randolph was doing his best to restrain his brother. Samuel was proving to be quite energetic for someone recovering from a traumatic near-death experience.

"Jessica, baptize them!" Dr. Lee called out. She had wandered out to see what all the commotion was about. Jessica ran into her makeshift chapel and came out carrying a water balloon filled with homemade holy water. She started praying.

"Jessica, what did I tell you? Sin first, pray for forgiveness later," Dr. Lee instructed. Jessica nodded and threw the water balloon at Samuel, Randolph, and Ray.

"Watch the circuits!" Devin said as he and Edgar stepped back from the splash zone.

The cold-water shocked Samuel into a state of calm. Dr. Lee walked up to him and gave him a sedative while Jessica completed her benedictions.

"Can I get one of those too?" Ray asked Lee. He meant the pill, not the prayer. He felt a terrible headache coming on. Between being kicked by Samuel and tackled by Edgar, Ray was aching all over.

"Afraid that's the last one," Lee said. But Ray knew she was lying.

"I think you gave it to the wrong one," Jessica said.

"Damn," Dr. Lee said. "Oh, sorry Jessica, I meant 'drat.'" The twin brothers were so mangled up that she had accidentally sedated Randolph. "Ray, Devin, why don't you take the other one upstairs before he gets riled up again."

"Sure, thing Doc," Ray said helping Samuel up from the ground. In the process of untangling him from his sedated and unconscious brother, Ray palmed the contents of Randolph's pockets. He left the wallet but kept the ring of keys he found. If Randolph and Dr. Lee weren't going to give him the answers he was looking for, he'd have to go looking for them himself.

#

Chapter 15

"Charles, this isn't working," Stella said. She, Delilah and Charles had managed to resolve their O. Henry situation and were now adrift in the Sacramento Sea. In their haste to escape from Alcatraz, there was no time to make other travel arrangements, so the three had to share the single sea lion. Currently, Charles and Delilah were perched on his back while Stella floated alongside.

"Charles!" Stella repeated. "Charles!"

"Oh, me?" Charles asked.

"Of course, you," Stella said.

"I thought you were talking to the other Charles," Charles said.

"Other Charles?" Stella asked.

"Yes, the sea lion," Charles replied.

"Why would I call the sea lion Charles?" Stella asked.

"The sea lion is also named Charles," Charles said. "You really should know that if you are going to be riding him."

"I don't know if you've noticed," Stella said, "but I am not riding him."

The sea lion barked.

"Don't worry," Charles said to the lion. "Whatever you told me will stay in the strictest of confidence."

"I think he's about ready to pass out," Stella said. Sea lions were not made to carry a full-grown chimpanzee and a fourteen-year-old girl.

"Get off!" Delilah said, shoving Charles.

"Watch the briefcase!" Charles said. He and Delilah had only been briefly introduced after their escape. In the confusion and chaos, there had been no time to get to know each other better before being forced to share the back of the sea lion.

"Why did you even bring that?" Stella asked about the briefcase.

"Believe me," Charles said, "it's better that I didn't leave it behind."

"Get off!" Delilah repeated giving Charles another shrug.

"Now see here young lady!" Charles said.

"No, you see. I can't swim. If the lion goes down, I go down," Delilah said.

The sea lion barked something else here.

"Don't say anything if you can't say anything nice," Charles retorted back.

"We need to come up with a plan," Stella said. "We can't just drift out here forever. Genesis will be after us soon if we don't drown first."

"Well, we can't go back to San Francisco," Charles said.

"Why not?" Delilah asked. "I liked it there. Well, the part I saw before being locked underground."

"Well, Genesis is looking for you and Stella. Plus, I got banned," Charles explained.

"We have the cure for the virus though," Stella pointed out.

"Hey, 'the cure' has a name," Delilah said.

"Didn't she make you really sick?" Charles asked. Stella had provided him with a brief recap of her time in Alcatraz as an introduction to Delilah. "We don't know really know if it is a cure."

"Delilah," Delilah said, "that's the name. I'm right here."

"Plus, I don't think Genesis will let us just waltz in and infect everyone," Charles pointed out.

"No, I suppose not," Stella said. "But I'm getting tired and Charles can't keep this up much longer."

"I don't know, I feel great!" Charles said.

"The other Charles," Stella corrected.

"Maybe we can go to a different island?" Charles asked. "One without Genesis?"

"Well, Angel Island is out then," Stella said. "I don't want to deal with that creepy prospector."

"That dude was so weird," Delilah agreed.

Charles the sea lion barked again.

"I think he said, 'beggars can't be choosers,'" Charles the ape said. "Well, he actually did not, but someone should say it. And what he did say was not polite enough to repeat."

The lion barked again.

"Oh dear," Charles said. "Don't talk about their mothers in that way!"

"Over there!" Delilah said pointing to the distance.

"I don't see anything," Charles said.

"That's because you are old," Delilah said.

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"I don't see anything either," Stella chimed in, "but I am on the wrong side of the sea lion."

"Oh, believe me," Charles said remembering his introduction to the sea lion. "You'd know if you saw the wrong side."

"It's a ship!" Delilah said.

The sea lion did not wait for further directions. He used his little remaining strength to swim towards the ship in the distance. Stella paddled alongside of him. As they got closer, they read "California History Adventure" on the side of the small yacht.

"Oh no," Stella groaned. It was a similar sign as the one she saw back on Angel Island. She could only hope that there was no prospecting tour guide on this attraction.

"Ahoy there!" an android shouted from the deck of the yacht. He had long hair, a beard, and was dressed in an old-fashioned military uniform. Charles leaped on board, followed by Delilah who just managed to clamber onto the ship before the sea lion dove, exhausted, to rest on the sea-bottom.

"Thanks for the hand," Stella said climbing on board. Charles did not notice her sarcasm. The ship's crew left him speechless. There appeared to be two androids. One who had greeted them and another that seemed to be malfunctioning. The rest of the crew were wooden silhouettes of mountain men and frontiersmen.

"Greetings fellow explorers of the West!" the android announced. "May I have the undue and unique pleasure of introducing myself as John C. Fremont, Military Governor of the territory of California. My companion here," Fremont said motioning the android leaning against the rails of the ship, "is Christopher Carson, better known in these lands as Kit Carson."

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" shouted the android Kit Carson.

"Creepy!" Delilah said with a huge smile on her face.

"Carson's adventures have been strenuous and exhaustive, so you must excuse him. I also suspect that the sea air has not agreed with his circuitry. He is, what future generations will describe as, a bit of a broken record," Fremont explained.

"What's going on?" Charles whispered to Stella.

"This is what happens when we forget history," Stella whispered back, "it goes insane."

"For the gentlemen and ladies of learning," Fremont continued, "and all who have a curiosity in the conquest of this great land, I recommend the education placards." There were a series of interpretive signs along the yacht detailing the adventures of the original Kit Carson and John C. Fremont.

"Boring!" Delilah said and went over to take a closer look at Kit Carson.

"Thanks for coming along," Charles said.

"Indeed, my timing has been fortuitous," Fremont said. "Much like the time I arrived at the western edge of the continent as revolution precipitated."

"Ah yes, I suppose so," Charles said. "It's always swell when that happens."

"Don't encourage him," Stella whispered.

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" shouted Kit Carson.

"Yes, yes, Carson," Fremont sighed. "Revolution is often bloody and violent. Such is the cost of freedom."

"Freedom? Weren't you the one doing the massacring?" Stella asked. She knew she shouldn't engage but could not help herself.

"Again, I refer you to the placard which properly explains everything in a way that is approved of by the board of education," Fremont said. "No, not that one," Fremont said intervening before Stella even made a motion towards the placard in question. "That one recounts certain events that are best left unrecounted. Look at this one instead. I freed slaves in this one."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll check them out later," Stella said. "How long until you take us back to the visitor center, gift shop, or whatever?"

"As related to all visitors prior to embarking on our California Adventure," Freemont said, "the tour is approximately three hours long and it is recommended that explorers partake of the restroom facilities before the yacht leaves."

"Three hours?" moaned Delilah.

"That being said," Fremont added, "this particular tour has lasted quite a bit longer than the previous ones. Currently, we are on hour 87,981 of the tour and I am afraid that every minute of it shows on Carson."

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" shouted Kit Carson.

"Indeed," Fremont said, "If I may step out of character for a moment, I have to say that I have ran out of prepared educational material quite a while ago."

"Can you drop us off somewhere?" Stella asked.

"In fairness to the other passengers, I'm afraid it is against company policy to make any unscheduled stops."

"I don't suppose it will make a difference if I point out that there are no other passengers?" Stella asked.

Fremont looked at her with intense perplexity. Androids were not meant for such questions.

"Charles, what do you want to do?" Stella asked. As far as she could see, their only option was to restrain the androids and take over the ship for themselves.

"I don't know," Charles said.

"Don't know? Don't know? Know what? Know nothing? Know Nothings!" Fremont began blabbering. Something about the words triggered an intense negative reaction in the android.

"Oh neat, now he's going insane too!" Delilah said. History was turning out to be much more exciting than she ever guessed.

"Off! Off of my ship you scoundrel!" Fremont said lunging towards Charles.

"What'd I say?" Charles asked dodging the android's grasp.

Stella was about to say that she didn't know but caught herself just in time before repeating the dreaded phrase.

"It's because you Know Nothings split the vote that we ended up with that imbecile Buchanan!" Fremont shouted chasing Charles back and forth across the deck of the yacht. "The presidency! All lost to me thanks to you!" Delilah stuck out her foot and tripped Fremont who went sprawling on the deck.

"Thanks," panted Charles.

"For what? I was aiming for you," Delilah said.

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" shouted Kit Carson.

"What he said," Delilah said.

"Get him while he's down!" Stella shouted leaping on Fremont.

"Mutineers!" Fremont shouted as Stella wrestled him. "Oh, the irony, that mule rider Stephan Kearny must be rolling in his grave. Which by the way, you can visit at our sister site: Missouri History Adventureland!"

"Oops!" Delilah said. A splash followed. In the excitement, she had knocked into Kit Carson and one of his arms had fallen off.

"Man, I mean, hand overboard!" Fremont yelled. "All other hands on deck!" He threw Stella off and began assembling the wooden cut outs alongside the side of the yacht.

"Charles, help!" Stella gasped. She had hit the deck hard.

"Oh, of course," Charles said and ran over and began moving the cutouts.

"You idiot!" Stella shouted. She had meant him to help her restrain Fremont.

"When I say 'Mass' you say 'acre!" Mass!" shouted Kit Carson.

"I fixed him!" Delilah clapped.

"I'll be damned!" Charles said pointing to a placard he had paused to read. "He did free the slaves."

#

Chapter 16

"Let's all take a moment and reflect about how our actions impact others," Charles instructed.

"Charles, I don't want to do this," Stella complained. She had sat through his conflict resolution class before and had found them to be an unproductive use of her time.

"I think of all people, you'd benefit the most," Charles said, "you seem to have a lot of anger bottled up."

"We don't have time for this," Stella said. But nonetheless, she sat down where Charles indicated. The fight with Fremont and had winded her and she was too exhausted to argue. Charles seated Delilah on the other side.

"What's going on?" Delilah asked. She was not familiar with Charles' past as an amateur therapist. The cult she grew up in did not have a lot of social services or mental health resources. Indeed, a lack thereof was one of the key ingredients to the success of any cult.

"You actually might even benefit more than Stella," Charles said. "Runaways are always troubled."

"Hey!" Delilah said.

"It's better to just given in," Stella advised.

Fremont took Stella's advice and was seated between the two humans without complaint. Kit Carson remained where he was as he was too fragile to move. Charles then attempted to seat the wooden cutouts.

"Charles, why don't you get on with it," Stella said. "They don't have operable joints."

"Thank you all for joining me here today," Charles began.

"Like we had a choice," Delilah muttered.

"Please wait until you have the talking stick," Charles instructed.

"Talking stick? What stick? What the hell are you talking about?" Delilah asked.

Charles was left without an answer, he did not have his therapist supplies. The only item he had on him was the brief case full of explosives and that would make a poor item to pass around.

"Charles!" Delilah shouted.

"I'm thinking!" Charles said.

"No, the other Charles," Delilah said pointing to the sea. Charles the sea lion had rejoined them and was swimming in circles alongside of the yacht.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" Fremont exclaimed, "or is that a lustful mermaid?"

"What does he have in his mouth?" Stella asked looking over the side.

"Ah! A talking stick!" Charles exclaimed. The sea lion had found Kit Carson's arm that Delilah had knocked overboard. "Here, bring it here!" Charles yelled at the other Charles in Pinniped. It took a few tries, but the sea lion gradually approached the yacht and clambered on board. There was a brief back and forth between the two Charles as they fought over the possession of the arm, but the sea lion eventually gave it up to bask in the sun on the deck of the ship.

Stella," Charles began, holding the arm out to her, "why don't you apologize to Governor Fremont for starting a mutiny, which, after reading the interpretive signs," he continued pointing to one of the placards, "we now know was quite the triggering experience for him."

Stella did not take the extended hand, instead she spat. It was not clear whether she was aiming at Charles or Fremont.

"Now Delilah," Charles said giving the arm to her, "why don't you apologize for breaking Kit Carson."

Delilah took the arm. "I'm sorry," she said, then returned the arm to Charles.

"Very nice, maybe Stella could learn something?" Charles said.

"Sorry that you all are such poop-heads," Delilah continued. Stella laughed.

"If we are aren't going to take this seriously, we shouldn't do it at all," Charles said shaking the arm above his head.

"Agreed!" Stella and Delilah shouted in unison.

"Massacre!--" Kit Carson began.

"Oh no you don't," Charles said getting back on track with his counseling session, "I read the sign, I know what happened at the Klamath River!"

"It was a time of war!" Fremont said leaping to his friend's defense.

"Well, technically, it says you started the war," Delilah said reading from the sign Charles had pointed at.

"I won't stand to be court martialed by a teenager!" Fremont said.

"This is not conducive!" Charles said.

"As much as I hate to say it, I agree," Stella said.

"Thank you, Stella. Now that we've all reached the apology and acceptance stage, it's time to move on to--"

"No, we're not doing that," Stella said.

"You didn't even hear--" Charles said.

"Don't care," Stella said. "We need to figure out what to do next."

"Now that Alta California has come under Old Glory," Fremont suggested, "it's time to raise the Bear Flag above Baja California!"

"Why can't we go back to San Francisco?" Delilah asked. "I liked it there."

"Didn't you spend the entire time in a tunnel?" Charles asked.

"Newer Helvetia set the bar pretty low," Delilah answered.

"Yeah, about that," Stella said, "I'm afraid its not safe for you in San Francisco. As much as I know you won't like it. I think the best thing for us is to take you back to Newer Helvetia"

"No!" Delilah yelled jumping to her feet.

"I'm sorry, but what else can we do?" Stella asked. "We can't just float around on the Sacramento Sea."

"No!" Delilah repeated.

"Delilah be reasonable," Stella said.

"No!" Delilah said.

"Nueva Helvetia!" Fremont exclaimed. "What a marvelous notion. John Sutter was always a supportive friend. With his backing I'm sure to prevail against Kearny and his libelous and false charges. Additionally, Carson could use the ministrations of a blacksmith."

"Stella," Charles chimed in.

"Carson! Assemble the crew!" Fremont ordered starting to move the cutouts around the deck. "Onward to victory and redemption!"

"Stella!" Charles repeated more earnestly.

"No Charles, we're not doing you conflict resolution class anymore," Stella said. "Help me out here."

"I won't go back!" Delilah yelled.

"Stella! Helicopter!" Charles finally yelled.

"What where?" Stella asked turning around.

"There," Charles said, pointing to a dot in the distance. "Who has old eyes now?" he said sticking his tongue out at Delilah. He instantly regretted when he saw how upset she was at the prospect of being returned to her parents.

"Ah, it appears to be one of the Commodore Stockton's steam ships!" Fremont said looking through a field glass. "One of his aerial ones that is. It was superiority in air power that gave us the edge over Castro's and Vallejo's forces."

"I am pretty sure it's no Commodore," Stella said taking the field glass from Fremont. The Genesis logo was emblazoned on the front of the helicopter. "I don't suppose there's any hope of escaping them?" She asked.

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" answered Kit Carson.

"I was afraid of that," Stella sighed.

"Excellent proposition, Carson!" Fremont shouted, "Men, get the howitzer!"

"You want to swim for it?" Stella asked Charles. Caught out in the open sea, whatever they did seemed like it would be an exercise in futility.

"No, I don't!" Delilah reminded Stella.

At the word "swim" Charles the sea lion evidently caught the drift of the conversation. In no mood to carry multiple passengers again, he quietly slipped back into the water.

"What is that?" Charles asked pointing to the object Fremont was pulling out of a compartment on the deck of the yacht.

"Um, where did you get that?" Stella asked as Fremont assembled a howitzer canon.

"St. Louis!" Fremont said positioning the gun.

"Is that real?" Charles asked.

"Fire!" Fremont yelled in answer. The howitzer blasted.

Stella, Charles, and Delilah all hit the deck. The shell tore through the placard with the incriminating information on Fremont and Carson. Splinters of wood rained on the deck.

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" shouted Kit Carson.

"Direct hit!" Fremont shouted happily.

Stella's ears were ringing, so she did not hear Fremont's exclamation. If she had, she would have pointed out that they had missed the helicopter which was still steadily approaching them.

"That sign had been nothing but problems," Fremont explained.

#

Chapter 17

"Where are you taking us?" Stella shouted over the sound of the helicopter. After Fremont's failed to shoot it down the helicopter arrived over the yacht and two Genesis security officers had descended down to the boat. Stella, Delilah, and Charles were handcuffed and brought on board. The vigilantes left Fremont and Carson behind, to the satisfaction of all involved.

"Newer Helvetia!" one of the officers shouted back.

"Well, on the bright side," Charles said, "at least we are bringing Delilah home."

Delilah just sobbed.

"Not quite the way I intended," Stella said. "Hey! She called out again, "when did Genesis get a base on Newer Helvetia? I thought they didn't like outsiders?"

"Don't ask us," the other officer said. "We were just told to go searching for you fugitives."

"Was the base there when you left?" Stella asked Delilah.

"Nothing was there," Delilah sniffled.

"More importantly," asked Charles, "how do they feel about chimpanzees there?"

"What do you think?" Delilah asked glaring at Charles.

"Whew, that's a relief," Charles sighed. He leaned back in the seat.

"What's that?" An officer asked pointing to Kit Carson's arm that Charles was carrying. In all of the excitement, no one noticed that he had brought it along.

"Oh, well when you find a good talking stick you don't leave it behind," he answered.

"Talking stick?" The officer asked.

"Why yes!" Charles said excitedly, "you might not be aware, but I use to be a Genesis employee as well. Have you ever taken the employee conflict resolution course?"

"Don't worry Delilah," Stella reassured, while Charles distracted the guards with a summary of the conflict resolution course. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"Yeah, my life has been just great since I met you," Delilah said.

"Hey, let me remind you that you were being held underground when I found you," Stella pointed out. "And your life before that couldn't have been that great if you ran away."

"Gee, you really know how to console people."

"Sorry."

"You don't know what it was like back there!" Delilah explained, "we can't do anything unless the deacon says it's okay. My parents don't care about me. They sent me and my sister to die by ourselves."

"Sister?" Stella asked.

"Yeah, my sister, Jessica," Delilah said. "We are twins."

"You never said you had a sister, is she, well, did she?" Stella struggled for the right words.

"Did she what?"

"You know, get the virus?"

"Yeah, she and I got it at the same time."

"I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For your sister."

"She didn't die. At least I don't think she did. We had the same type of virus. The type I gave you."

"Whoa! Hold on there," one of the guards interrupted. "No one said anything about a virus!"

"Mind your own business!" Stella shot back.

"What's wrong?" Charles asked.

"Delilah has a twin sister!" Stella said. "Samuel didn't say anything about her."

"Is she an identical twin?" Charles asked.

"Why do you care?" Delilah shot back.

"Well, Stella and I have this disagreement about how similar humans look. So, I was wondering--"

"Hey, what were you guys saying about the virus?" the other guard asked. Both of them were fairly concerned.

"We didn't ask you to capture us," Stella shouted back, "so just butt out of it." Then turning to Delilah, "Delilah, what happened to your sister?"

"Why is everyone so into Jessica?" Delilah shouted, "Everyone thinks she's so perfect. Little religious Jessica, never gets in trouble, never asks questions, never runs away, never burnt down the rectory--"

"Burned down?" Stella asked.

"Like you're so perfect," Delilah retorted.

"Rectory? Hmmm, interesting word and intriguing that you'd lash out at it," Charles said scratching his chin with Carson's hand. "Delilah, do you know who Sigmund Freud was?"

"Not now Charles," Stella interjected. Delilah was having a hard-enough time as it was.

The helicopter began to descend; precluding any further psychoanalysis. Within moments they landed and the door was thrown open. The guards rushed out of the helicopter cabin as fast as they could. A few moments later, two fresh guards came in and pulled Delilah out, another two entered and grabbed Stella, then two came in, saw that Charles was a chimpanzee, left and returned with an extra pair to pull him out.

"Careful where you grab!" he shouted as they lugged him out of the helicopter.

Stella, Delilah, and Charles found themselves in a small open field. Other than their guards, only two others stood waiting for them. One was a man in a suit, the other, a tall, stern looking man in a black frock.

"Is this all of them?" the suited man asked.

"Yes sir!" answered a guard.

"Samuel Bones?" Stella asked. The Genesis executive looked vaguely different than the last time she saw him. Although to be fair, at that time he was unconscious in a subterranean room and the lighting had been rather poor.

"No, my name is Randolph Bones. I'm Samuel's brother, and I am afraid, the one who has to clean up his mess," Randolph said. "I'm guessing you must be Stella Mooney."

"What mess? What's going on?" Stella asked.

"By this time, I'm sure you must have learned about Delilah's... unique trait," Bones said.

"It's an abomination," the man in the frock muttered.

"You want her for a cure?" Stella guessed.

"No, we already have the vaccine. Let's just say Genesis has a vested interest in her," Bones said.

"Vested interest? What the hell does that mean?" Stella asked.

"Please, watch your language," the frocked man said.

"Speak plain! Why did you send us after her when you already had her in a tunnel?" Stella said.

"Well, that was all my brother's fault. I'm afraid he's not as loyal to the company as we thought. I guess he was trying to work out a personal angle. And maybe settle some business with yourselves."

"He definitely had it out for her," Charles said. "By the way, my name is Charles." He extended Carson's hand to Randolph to shake.

"Um, nice to meet you," Randolph said nervously tapping the hand.

"Mr. Bones, does this complete our business?" the man in the frock asked.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry," Bones said, "Stella, this is the deacon of Newer Helvetia." Randolph introduced the man.

"So this is the deacon I've heard so much about?" Stella asked.

"The deacon and the community of Newer Helvetia have been very accommodating in helping Genesis clear up this abnormality," Bones added.

"Welcome home Delilah," said the stern man who was accompanying Randolph. Delilah just glared at him. Despite his words, his demeanor was far from welcoming.

"Hello," Charles said extending Kit Carson's hand. "My name is--"

"Take the animal to its cage," ordered the deacon.

The guards looked at Bones for confirmation.

"Do it!" ordered the deacon. Bones nodded and the guards complied.

"Hey! Watch it! I'm a detective! Woah, that's not a hand-hold!" Charles shouted as the guards dragged him away.

"What are you doing with him!" Stella shouted. She struggled to free herself from the guards who were holding her, but Randolph must have learned from his brother's mistakes. Their grip on Stella was firm.

"Unfortunately," Randolph said, "You and I are guests here in Newer Helvetia. What the deacon says goes."

"Delilah, your parents and I were very disappointed in your behavior," the deacon said.

"Where are they?" Delilah asked. Other than the vigilantes restraining them, only the deacon and Randolph bones had come out to greet them.

"I'm afraid they due to your behavior, they are unable to see you," the deacon said.

"You killed them?" Delilah asked in shock.

"I'm sure nothing like that happened," Randolph interjected. "At least nothing that Genesis is aware of and therefore we have no responsibility to investigate."

"Please Mr. Bones, you've interfered enough here. We'll settle things in our own way," the deacon said.

"True enough," Bones said. "You've been more than accommodating, despite the unexpected delay caused by my brother. Well, Stella, and Delilah, it's time for us to be off."

"Off to where?'" Stella asked. "What about Charles?"

"Silence that woman!" the deacon ordered.

"To hell with that!" Stella shouted and struggled to free her arm.

"Take the infidel away!" the deacon ordered.

"Hold on, she needs to go with us," Bones said.

The deacon made a motion and from across the field and two Newer Helvetians appeared. The approached and attempted to pry Stella from the Genesis guards.

"Deacon, Genesis needs everyone who has been exposed to the strain," Bones said trying to take the deacon aside.

"Just wait until I get free!" Stella said still struggling as her different sets of captors struggled over her.

"Take your godless hands off of me!" the deacon snapped at Bones. "You think you and your company can come in here with your money and take our children? You can have the corrupted ones, but we can still save this one's soul."

"Deacon! This simply can't happen!" Bones argued.

The agreement your brother made was for the girls," the deacon snapped at Bones.

"What girls?" Delilah asked, "What did you do with my sister?"

"Be reasonable, deacon. Look at her," he said pointing to Stella. "You don't want her soul, just ask my brother."

"Hey!" Stella shouted, "or, at least I think so." It was hard to know who was the lesser of the two evils in this situation.

"You be reasonable," the deacon said to Bones. "Do you want the girl, or the woman? Choose."

Randolph sighed, thought a moment, and then signaled the Genesis guards to release Stella to the New Helvetians. By this time, the four guards who had taken Charles away had returned. All the Genesis employees, headed towards the helicopter, dragging Delilah with them.

"Very wise, Mr. Bones," the deacon called out. "You and your scientists can have the girl for your experiments. The woman will make an excellent wife and mother as a replacement for the two you took away."

That comment helped Stella decide who was the lesser of the two evils. She could see why Delilah was no fan of the deacon or Newer Helvetia.

"Okay," she shouted to Delilah, "I definitely see what you were getting at."

#

Chapter 18

"This has gotten out of hand and we need to lay down some ground rules," Dr. Lee announced. The entire household was assembled in the remains of her study. There were books scattered on the floor and her desk was tipped over. The rest of the mansion did not look much better. Housekeeping skills were not among the skill set of the three adults, one teenager, and two robots who were currently residing in the mansion.

"We were playing by the rules," Edgar said. "Jessica was very, very, hard to find."

Jessica nodded in agreement. In fact, she had been hiding outside in the yard. It had taken Edgar and Devin a day and a half to find her.

"I know it's here somewhere!" Samuel shouted. While not part of the game, he had contributed to the mess as well.

"Don't call it 'it,'" Devin said. "It is called Jessica."

"Not her you sorry excuse for salvage! Her research!" Bones yelled pointing at Dr. Lee. Bones was much improved from his couple days of rest, physically. Mentally, however, he still had some recuperating to do. He no longer displayed the restraint he did in the past. Instead, he was prone to fits of temper and paranoia.

"Genesis locked up all of my research," Lee said. "If you want it, go ask your brother."

"Wait, Genesis took your research?" Ray asked. Between taking care of Samuel, watching Jessica, and keeping a handle on Edgar and Devin, he had not had time to talk with Dr. Lee. Or explore the mysterious elevator.

"Quit the act, Ray," Lee said.

"What act?" Ray asked.

"Playing dumb and trying to be my friend. You can work for Genesis or be the good guy, but don't pretend to be both," Lee said.

"It's not an act," Ray said. "Not that the dumb part, but the other part. What's going on?"

"What, you think I am sitting in this claptrap by choice?" Lee asked.

"Claptrap?" Ray asked. "You should see where I grew up."

"No thanks," Lee said. "Can't you do something about him?" Edgar was buzzing around behind Jessica, causing her to giggle uncontrollably.

"Let them have fun, they're not hurting anyone," Ray said. "Now about Genesis--"

"Not hurting anyone! Look at my books!" Lee shouted pointing at the remains of her library scattered about the floor.

"Doc, what's going on here. You have to give me more information if I'm going to protect you!"

"Protect me?" Dr. Lee asked and started laughing. Samuel joined in. Then Devin joined in for good measure.

"What's so funny?" Ray asked.

"Oh my, he's serious," Samuel said. "What a sap!"

"Hey!" Ray said, "this 'sap' is the one who took care of you the last couple of days."

"You honestly thought you are here to protect us?" Lee asked.

"Of course," Ray said. "Why else would I be here?"

"Now I feel almost bad," Lee said. "If I had known you were stupid for real, not just acting, things could have been different. We could have made a break for it."

"Break what? Tell me what's going on!" Ray shouted.

"You're not here to protect me," Lee explained, "you are here to keep me from leaving. Then Jessica came along, so they threw her in here with me. Then there is this one..." she said pointing to Samuel.

"But, why?" Ray asked.

"My brother is too cheap," Samuel said. "Figured he could throw the lot of us here and save on the bill."

"No, why can't you guys leave?" Ray asked.

"Uh, I don't know, think it over," Lee said sarcastically. "Why would the company who spent millions on a cure for the deadliest virus in history want to place limits on the scientist who developed the only vaccine and the first humans who survived the virus."

"They don't want you exposing people on the moon to the virus?" Ray asked.

"Moon? No, gee Ray, they don't want us to end the virus!" Lee said. Ray still looked at her blankly. "No virus, no vaccine. No virus, no vaccine sales. And no armies of vigilantes. Is that clear enough for you?"

"Is that what she has," Ray asked pointing and Jessica, "the cure?"

"Not quite a cure," Lee said. "More of an immunization. Somehow there was some gene transfer with her and the virus. The new mutated version makes people sick but then resilient to the more deadly version. That's what I'm guessing at least, I would know more, but Genesis doesn't want me researching her."

"Thank goodness," Jessica muttered.

"What's he got to do with it?" Ray asked pointing to Samuel.

"I was trying to get the cure out to the people!" Samuel said. "I found out about her--"

"Why can't anyone say my name?" Jessica complained.

"\--and I rushed her here to the Doctor so she could make a cure. Unfortunately, I didn't realize she was in league with Genesis' evil plans and was already sitting on research for a permanent cure."

"Bull," Lee said, "you found out this one--"

"Jessica!" Jessica shouted.

"\--Had a twin sister and kept her for yourself. You were going to try to turn a profit behind Genesis' back, right?"

"I mean, certain heroics deserve compensation," Samuel said shrugging off Lee's accusation.

"Wait," Ray said, "let me get this straight. The virus could be stopped, but Genesis is preventing it? For profit?"

"That's the gist of it," Dr. Lee said. "I'm not a hundred percent sure why Bones here ended up with a bashed face."

"That's terrible!" Ray gasped.

"Yeah, you can thank your friend, Stella Mooney, for that," Samuel agreed.

"No, how could you," Ray said to Samuel, "and you," he said turning to the doctor, "do that?"

"You work for Genesis too," Samuel said to Ray, "there are no innocents here."

"Beg to disagree," Jessica said. "Hello, I was kidnapped?"

"Shhh, adults are talking," Samuel said.

"You're right," Lee agreed. "I should have stood up to Genesis. "I knew something was wrong when they told me to stop my research after I developed the daily vaccinations. I was so close to finding a permanent, one-time only, vaccination."

"I knew it!" Samuel shouted. "Where is it? Where is the prototype!"

"Can we go?" Edgar asked. "This is very boring."

Ray waved the two robots away who left. Only the three humans remained in her study.

"I'm guessing, going from the drift of the conversation, that Genesis wasn't interested in a permanent cure. Not if it interfered with their profits," Ray surmised.

"And our vigilantes!" Samuel said. "We have control of a dozen of the world's major cities. A few more years and we'll replace the U.N."

"That's diabolical!" Ray exclaimed.

"It's genius is what it is!" Samuel said.

"It was pure evil, and I should have stood up against it," Lee agreed with Ray. "But they were too powerful. I choose house arrest. Who knows how far they'd go to keep their secrets?"

"Oh, I know," Samuel said chuckling. "Believe me doctor, you made the right choice."

"You seem pretty happy for someone who is trapped with us," Ray said, "is that the insanity talking?"

"Hey, you'd have done the same in my position," Samuel said.

"I doubt it," Ray said.

"Well, that's why you never advance in the company," Bones continued. "I don't know what my brother saw in you."

"There were slim pickings among the lunar security teams," Ray admitted. From elsewhere in the house, the sound of broken glass and gleeful shriek from Edgar emphasized his point.

"Just to get all the cards out on the table," Ray said, "why don't you tell me precisely what you did."

"Did? I didn't get to do anything!" Samuel said. "Your friend ruined it."

"Humor me," Ray said.

"Fine. My vigilantes caught a girl in San Francisco. I thought it was your friend Stella. I never trusted her and knew she was up to no good. You should have thrown her out of the airlock when you found her stowed away on that ship."

"The idea did cross my mind," Ray said.

"Anyway, there was a standing, but off-the-record, order that when Stella was captured that she'd be brought to me directly. I wasn't going to trust her to quarantine. They brought me this teenager instead. Apparently, they can't tell people apart. Long story short, I pried out where she was from, and what she was. Then I found out that she had a sister. A twin sister. So, I figured I'd keep the one, and cover my tracks by turning the other over to Genesis. Then I got greedy and tried to use her as bait to trap Stella."

"That's when you 'got greedy?'" Ray asked, "Not when you kidnapped a child to charge people for getting vaccinated?"

"In retrospect," Samuel said, "it was a good plan, but the implementation of it could have been improved."

"Where's my sister?" Delilah asked Samuel.

"Don't know, don't care," Bones said, "Little brat was nothing but trouble."

Jessica kicked him in the shins. Bones swung at the girl, but Ray stepped in and slugged him in the stomach. Bones crumpled to the ground, and Jessica kicked him in the stomach. Ray and Lee decided to get in on the fun and gave him a few kicks themselves.

"What do we do know?" Lee asked Ray after they had exhausted their anger against Samuel. The executive lay on the floor unconscious.

"Well, I don't suppose we can kill him. He deserves it, but his brother is bound to ask questions."

"I meant more generally," Lee said.

"Oh, yeah," Ray said, "well, I'm obviously not going to stop you, let's go."

"Go where?" Lee asked.

"Um, to your lab? Let's expose Genesis," Ray said.

"We need proof though," Lee said.

"Aren't you and her proof?" Ray asked.

"Really, it's Jessica. Please stop referring to me like I'm not here," Jessica pleaded.

"Sorry," Ray said.

"And why hasn't anyone asked me what I want to do? Shouldn't I have a say in any of this?" Jessica asked.

"I guess that would be reasonable," Lee said.

"First of all," Jessica said, "I don't want to be prodded and poked like some lab animal."

"I won't let that happen," Lee said.

"Really? Seems like you aren't that good at standing up to your bosses?" Jessica said.

"Ouch, but I guess I deserved that," Lee said. "Things are different now, I promise you. Besides, I was close to a permanent cure the first time around. With just some small blood samples I'm sure I could wrap up my research."

"Well, then what about my sister? Where is she?" Jessica asked.

"I'm not sure," Lee said.

"We probably don't want to wait to ask him," Ray said pointing to Bones.

"No cure until we get her," Jessica said. "If you want my blood, you have to get her first."

"Well, first things first," Ray said. "We don't want to stay here."

"Agreed," said Lee and Jessica simultaneously.

"Well, let's get out of here and worry about the next steps later," Ray said. "Unless," he stopped and took the keys he stole from Randolph Bones' pockets, "unless you think there's something in the basement we should see?"

"They gave you keys to the elevator?" Lee asked.

"Not gave, per se," Ray answered. "Do you know what's down there?"

"My research," Lee said, "files, digital copies, everything Genesis didn't want laying out in the open."

"Genesis seems to put all of its eggs in one basket," Ray said.

"Jessica, go get ready to leave," Ray said. "Dr. Lee and I will meet you here in ten minutes." Jessica ran out to her chapel and Ray and Lee headed to the elevator. There was a control panel on the side and Ray rummaged through the key chain looking for a key that would fit. After two tries, the elevator chimed, and the door opened. Lee and Ray went inside, there was just a single button in there, and Lee pressed it. They descended in silence and when the doors reopened, Ray followed Lee out into her private laboratory. The elevator closed behind them.

"Grab that computer," Lee said pointing to a slim computer on a desk. I'll grab the things I need from the back.

"Sure thing Doc," Ray said and went and unplugged the computer. The elevator chimed again, and the doors opened. Jessica and Samuel were standing in the elevator.

"Jessica, all ready to go?" Ray asked. Then the pair stepped out of the dark elevator and into the light. It was not Samuel and Jessica, but Randolph and Delilah.

"Damn!" Ray swore.

"I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere," Bones said stepping out of the shadows. "This is very disappointing, Ray."

"Lee!" Ray shouted to warn the doctor. He then made a dash to tackle Randolph. At the last second, Randolph pulled out a taser and shocked Ray who fell to the ground convulsing.

"I was wondering where my keys went. Imagine my surprise when I came here to drop Delilah off," he motioned to the girl who Ray belatedly realized was not Jessica after all, "and I found them. In the elevator. The secure one. The one I forbade you from using."

"You won't get away with this!" Ray managed to stammer from the ground.

"I'm afraid there's not much you can do locked in this basement," Randolph said. Randolph Bones pushed Delilah towards Dr. Lee. Then stepped back into the elevator. The doors shut and the elevator hummed.

"Bones!" Ray said crawling towards the elevator. He could not see any button, so he staggered to his feet and banged on the doors. Just then, the power to the basement was cut and they found themselves in total darkness underground.

"Oh great, this again," Delilah muttered.

#

Chapter 19

The cage that the guards had thrown Charles in was nearly a perfect cube. Perfect in the sense that all the edges were the same size; in all other ways the accommodations were far from ideal. The four walls, roof, and floor were all made of thick bars spaced two inches apart. It was suspended on the edge of a cliff so the open sea was directly below Charles. The only bedding that was provided was some hay, much of which had fallen between the bars. Otherwise, Charles was directly exposed to all of the elements.

A guard from Newer Helvetia named Josiah came twice a day to give him a meager ration of food and a bucket of water. At first, Josiah was reluctant to talk to Charles and simply thrust the food and bucket through a small opening that he unlocked for that purpose. After a couple of feedings, Josiah warmed up and made eye contact with Charles. Not long after, Charles and Josiah were having short conversations. Charles began to look forward to these exchanges. It wasn't much, but cooped up in a cage did not leave a lot of other entertainment. This day though, Josiah was more sober and downcast than usual.

"Hello Charles," Josiah said.

"Hello Josiah," Charles said. "What do you have for me today?"

"Afraid it is the same old stuff as yesterday," Joseph said handing Charles a bowl of slops. Charles took it and began to eat.

"Hmmm," he said, "I think I can actually taste some food mixed in here this time."

"Must have been a mistake on the cook's part," Josiah said.

"I imagine that he's made quite a few of them in his life to end up cooking for caged prisoners."

"Sorry the cuisine is not up to your big city standards."

"Well, I've had worse. Yesterday, actually. Enough about food," Charles said handing back the bowl, "what's wrong? From the expression on your face you'd think you're the one who is locked up."

"Well," Josiah hesitated.

"Come on, out with it!"

"I'm not sure if I should say. You're not going to like it."

"Well, I've been getting a lot of practice dealing with disappointment lately. You might as well just go ahead and tell me whatever it is."

"I really shouldn't."

"Don't leave me hanging," Charles said. Then looked down at the sea below him. "No pun intended," he added.

"It's your friend," Josiah blurted out finally.

"Stella?"

"Yes, her."

"Is she okay?"

"As far as I know she is fine."

"Well, then what's the matter?"

"They are going to baptize her today."

"Oh," Charles said. "Well that doesn't sound too bad."

"Then she's getting married," Josiah added.

"Married?" Charles asked shocked. "She meant someone already? Geez, is this New Helvetia or Stockholm?"

"What do you mean?"

"Stockholm? Like in Stockholm Syndrome?" Charles explained.

"I'm not following."

"Oh dear, didn't you ever take a social psychology course in college? Well, have a seat, I'll explain."

Josiah was saved from a lecture by the approach of two men from Newer Helvetia bearing a long pole between them. Suspended by the pole was a large furry shape.

"Shhh!" Josiah hissed, "don't let them know I've been talking to you."

"Oh, so you're embarrassed by me?"

"It is devilish to speak to animals!"

"Nonsense!" corrected Charles. "Talking to humans, yes, that often leads to trouble. But I've never--"

"What are you doing, Josiah?" one of the approaching men called out.

"Just feeding the beast, sir," Josiah said.

"It looked like you were conversing with it," the man said.

"No sir," Josiah said.

"Well, it certainly blabbers a lot," the man said, "No matter, we brought him a companion."

"A companion?" both Charles and Josiah asked.

The two new guards lowered the pole and Charles took a closer look at the furry shape.

"Bernard?" Charles gasped.

"Charles? Oh Charles! Is that really you?" Bernard asked looking up at Charles as the guards untied his hands and feet from the pole.

"Restrain the beast!" ordered the other man.

"Get back, er, um beast!" Josiah said to Charles. "Please?" he added in a whisper.

"Fine," Charles sighed and moved to the back of his cage. Josiah unlocked the front door, and the two men threw Bernard into the cage at Charles' feet. Josiah locked up and then, covertly nodding goodbye to Charles, followed the two other men who were already returning up the path.

"I thought you had exploded," Bernard said when they were alone.

"Bernard, what happened?" Charles asked.

"Oh, where to begin. It seems like several lifetimes ago that we last met."

"It was only a few days."

"A few days? Really?" Bernard asked sitting up and massaging his wrists, and then his ankles. "So much has happened. I discovered it, Charles, it really does exist!"

"That Magic Monkey Mountain you kept going on about?"

"What? I don't know what you are talking about. No, the legendary lost cannabis fields of California!"

"The what? I've never heard of them."

"Oh my, yes. They were glorious. While there I went on a spiritual journey that transcended the boundaries of space and time."

"I see," Charles said, although he was not sure that he actually did. "How did you get here?"

"I'm not sure. My recollection is not as good as it was pre-cannabis fields. Where is here?"

"Newer Helvetia," Charles answered. "Well, as you can see, more precisely a cage on the very edge of Newer Helvetia."

"Ah, I see," Bernard said. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

To mark his words, a church bell rung in the distance.

"Did you hear that, or was it just me?" Bernard asked.

"No, I'm afraid those are wedding bells."

"Kind of a funny thing to be afraid of."

"They are for my friend, Stella."

"Who?"

"Stella? The human?"

"Oh, your sordid affair is still going on?" Bernard asked.

"Again, it's not like that."

"Then why are you--"

"That cult has abducted her," Charles explained. "They are trying to make her one of them."

"She is one of them."

"Not all humans are the same," Charles said. "Although, they do look very similar," he admitted remembering the situation at the night club.

"Well you don't have to convince me," Bernard said. "If it involves ruining a wedding, count me in."

"Before we ruin anything, we have to get out of here," Charles said.

"Why don't we take that boat?" Bernard said pointing to a spot on the horizon. Charles looked at where he was pointing.

"Well, I'll be!" he exclaimed. "It's Fremont!"

"Huzzah! Who the hell is that?" Bernard asked.

"Fremont! Fremont! Over here!" Charles yelled. Bernard joined in. It was not clear whether those on the yacht saw them until a blast rang out and part of the cliff next to the cage exploded. Charles and Bernard changed the tone of their yells. Another shot sounded and the corner of the cage was blown off. Broken bits of metal just narrowly missed the two apes.

"What's he shooting at us for?" Bernard asked.

"I have no idea," Charles said. He remembered their reaction to the helicopter. "It might just be their 'go-to' response."

The third shot destroyed the part of the cliff that the cage was attached too, causing it to slowly tip towards the sea.

"I should have stayed in the cannabis fields," Bernard groaned as the last support snapped, plunging them into the water.

Charles and Bernard pushed and shoved each other to get to the corner of the cage that had been blown off. Charles got there first, but Bernard pulled him back and tried to push in front. Charles kicked him and made his way through the gap. He got halfway through when Bernard forced his way through. Charles gave a shove, and he broke free from the cage. Bernard followed and they both kicked for the surface.

"Greetings explorer!" Fremont called to them as they burst through the surface.

"What are you doing here?" Charles asked, in between spitting out sea water.

"Well, you left this behind," Fremont said holding up Charles' briefcase. "The usual course is to leave all items at the lost and found until they can be retrieved by their proper owners. However, owing to the peculiarities of this particular tour, and the fact I wish to avoid a very annoying prospector, I figured it was better to return the item in question personally."

"Thanks, I guess," Charles said. He and Bernard clambered onto the yacht and Charles reached out for the briefcase.

"Um, excuse me," Fremont said snatching it out of reach, "I believe you have something of ours to return?"

"I do?" Charles asked.

"Something of Kit Carson's?"

"Oh, I'm afraid that sunk," Charles said looking at the spot in the water where the cage had fallen. He had not had time to rescue Kit Carson's arm."

Fremont just looked at him expectedly.

"You can't be serious?" Charles said. But it was evident that Fremont was indeed quite serious. Charles sighed and dove into the water. A few moments later he resurfaced holding Kit Carson's broken arm. He swam back to the yacht and handed it to Fremont.

"Thank you," Fremont said, handing him the briefcase. "As you can see," he said gesturing to Carson, "we don't really need it, but it is the principle of the thing."

"The principle?" Charles exclaimed. "You made me dive back down there for a principle?"

"Yes, turns out we didn't need Sutter's blacksmith at all," Fremont said proudly. "I used my extensive backwoods skills and repaired him myself."

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" shouted Kit Carson waving his new arm. Fremont had attached the howitzer cannon in the place of the missing limb.

"Now that we have completed the mission, and all possessions are in the hands of their rightful owners, it is time Carson, the crew, and I continued our tour," Fremont said. "I hope you gentlemen enjoyed your time learning about California's history."

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Charles said. He grabbed Carson by the shoulders and looked more closely at the new arm. In the distance, he could still hear the church bell of Newer Helvetia tolling. "How many more rounds do you have left?"

#

Chapter 20

Stella was in the midst of the worst bachelorette party she had ever attended. It was held in the back room of Newer Helvetia's church. The same room, coincidentally, that Stella had been held in since she arrived at the cult.

"What a delightful hymn!" Abigail, the woman assigned as Stella's caretaker and de-facto maid of honor, said. "I think we have time for one more before the ceremony." There were murmurs of agreement from the other women in the room, with the exception of Stella. This was not so much due to the fact she was in no mood for singing hymns, indeed, she had never been in such a mood, but more due to the fact that her hands were tied and her mouth was gagged to keep her from shouting.

"Do you think we could undo her gag?" asked Abigail.

"I don't know, you know how the Deacon feels about allowing us to talk," another woman said.

"But she's going to have to speak for the ceremony," Abigail said, "let's give her the chance. You promise you won't yell? Or, um, bite?"

Stella nodded. Abigail undid the gag, but left Stella's wrists tied.

"Thank God," Stella said when her mouth was free.

"See! she's learning already," Abigail exclaimed. "Just in time, since the ceremonies are about to start."

"I know I promised not to shout," Stella said as the women left the room, "so please don't let my tone understate what I'm about to say, but I really, really, don't want to do this."

"Don't worry, dear," Abigail said fixing a veil on Stella's head. "Everyone gets cold feet." She then led Stella out of the room and into the main body of the church. There were rows of pews on each side with an aisle down the center. Women sat on one side, men on the other. Luckily, there was not a large non-binary membership among the fundamentalist Newer Helvetian community, or else it would require a remodel of the seating layout. Abigail pulled Stella to a pew in the front and sat down.

"Not that it makes much of a difference at this point," Stella asked, "but who am I supposed to be marrying anyway?"

"Brother Harrison," Abigail said pointing to a middle-aged man who was just sitting down on the other side of the church.

"Can I meet him at least?" Stella asked.

"Talk to a man? Here? Oh no, that will never do," Abigail said. "This is a church, not a brothel. Just count your blessings that you joined just when he was looking for a new wife."

"Yeah, 'join' might be too strong of a word," Stella sighed. "Wait a second, when you see he was looking for a new wife, you mean he is a widower, right?"

"Yes," Abigail said. "Sadly, the first Sister Harrison died of the virus a few months ago."

"Oh, good," Stella said with relief. "Not that she died of course. Just that there wasn't anything weird about it."

"No, it was God's will," Abigail said. "Even so, Brother Harrison and the other Sister Harrisons were quite distraught."

"Other?

"Oh of course they loved her like a sister, or more specifically, a sister-wife. By this afternoon, you'll be the fifth Sister Harrison. No, scratch that, the fourth."

"Okay, see when I was talking about whether there was anything weird about it, that would have been a good time to bring that up."

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to get to know them all. But now you have to be quiet. Here comes the deacon."

"Please rise," the deacon said. "Let us pray."

"Let's not," Stella said before Abigail could hush her. The deacon led the congregation in a long series of prayers.

"Please be seated," the deacon said when they were over. Then followed a reading by the deacon after which he instructed them to rise again. After the second round of prayers, he instructed everyone to sit down and for Stella to approach the pulpit.

"Stella Mooney, do you promise to resist Satan and all his temptations?" the deacon asked.

"Nope!" Stella said.

"Let's try that again. And let me remind you, a simple 'I do' will suffice for all of the questions I'm going to be asking you today," the deacon said. "Stella Mooney, do you promise to resist Satan and all of his temptations?"

"I don't," Stella said.

"Close enough," the Deacon muttered choosing to just focus on the first three letters that Stella said. Before he could continue, the church doors opened, and a figure entered.

"For God's sake," Stella muttered when she saw that it was Charles.

"Amen," said the congregation, a little confused as it was not time for another prayer.

"Sorry, sorry. Excuse me," Charles said as he tried to find a seat on the women's side of the church.

"How dare you desecrate this holy place!" the deacon shouted when he realized who it was.

"Um, did you get to the part where you ask if anyone has any objections?" Charles asked.

"Out foul beast!" the deacon ordered.

"Oh well, now is as good as a time as any," Charles said. "Stella, you can't get married! You are making a terrible decision!"

"Uh, no crap!" Stella said showing Charles her tied hands.

"Oh," Charles said.

"You thought I wanted this?" Stella asked. "I've been locked in the back since we got here!"

"Well, when I heard, I immediately thought, well, never mind. Gee, this is going to be awkward," Charles said. "You see, there's this whole plan I had to rescue you. It's going to seem a little overkill now. Perhaps quite literally." With that he ran down the aisle and tackled Stella to the floor.

"This is you rescuing me?" she asked as he pinned her to the floor. Before Charles could explain, or before any of the Newer Helvetians could interfere, the door to the church swung open again and Kit Carson entered blasting with his howitzer arm. Plaster and debris fell onto them and screams filled the air. The entire congregation panicked.

"Bernard is at the yacht," Charles said as he quickly untied Stella's hands. "Where's Delilah?"

"Bones took her," Stella answered. She did not bother to ask who Bernard was, or how Charles had escaped, or what the deal with Carson's arm was. They both crawled across the floor towards the back of the church. At the door, they paused.

"Should do something?" Stella asked, gesturing to the scene in the church. Kit Carson was blasting everything in sight to pieces.

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" Kit Carson shouted.

"At the risk of repeating history, maybe we should just let them do what they do best," Charles said.

"Massacre! No room for prisoners! Death! Death!" Fremont shouted as he beat the deacon with Kit Carson's old arm.

"Fair enough," Stella said. "But they're going to have to print a new placard."

Charles agreed. It was definitely a wedding for the history books.

#

Chapter 21

"What are you doing?" Bernard asked as Charles adjusted the sails on the yacht. Newer Helvetia was safely behind them and Stella instructed him to turn the boat to the east. "The cannabis fields are that way!" he said pointing to the northwest.

"We aren't going to the cannabis fields," Stella said.

"Where are we going?" Charles asked.

"We have to rescue Delilah," Stella answered.

"Who?" Bernard asked.

"Delilah," Charles answered.

"Who's that?" Bernard asked.

"The runaway girl? We literally just told you about her," Stella said. They had indeed filled Bernard in after their escape from Newer Helvetia. Apparently, as he kept pointing out, after the cannabis fields, Bernard's short-term memory was not what it once was.

"Children grow up," Bernard said, "you have to let go sometime."

"She didn't grow up, she was kidnapped!" Stella snapped.

"Do you know where Bones took her?" Charles asked.

"How should I know? I was locked in a church," Stella said.

"Well, I was locked in a cage, so I win," Charles said. "But that doesn't help us find her."

"I don't think they'd take her back to San Francisco," Stella said. "They'd want her somewhere they could keep a better eye on her. I'm guessing their lunar headquarters."

"If you are trying to go to the moon on this boat," Bernard said, "we are definitely going to have to make a stop at the cannabis fields."

"For the last time, we are not going to--"

"Magic Monkey Mountain?" Bernard asked.

"Where?" Stella asked.

"Magic Monkey Mountain. The apes there are smugglers. I bet they could get us to the moon."

"What are you talking about? Charles, where did you find this guy?" Stella asked.

"I'll let Charles explain," Bernard said. "He's the one who mentioned it to me in the cage."

"Me? You're the one that was talking about it all over at the POOP meeting!"

"Charles, we don't use the acronym," Bernard corrected.

"We can now, we got kicked out!" Charles said, "Largely because you were talking about your ridiculous mountain!"

"Hmm, are you absolutely sure?" Bernard asked. "That does not sound like me at all."

"It's not too late to dump him into the sea," Stella pointed out.

"On second thought," Bernard said, considering Stella's threat, "I do recall something about the mountain in question. I learned from my contacts that there were a group of ape smugglers that were running fresh fruits and vegetables, of the supposedly extinct variety, into San Francisco."

"Vegetables?" Stella asked. That day in San Francisco seemed ages ago, but it did collaborate some of Bernard's story.

"What do you think Stella? Seems far-fetched, but you saw the chimp selling corn yourself. He had to come from somewhere," Charles said.

"Seems like a long shot," Stella agreed. "But San Francisco is not an option for us. And the next closest spaceport is in Old L.A. It would take forever to get there on this boat."

"Oh, Old L.A.," Bernard said. "That's out. I'm technically not allowed back there. For reasons that I'd rather not recall at this time."

"Well," Stella said, "then--"

"It all started," began Bernard, "at 3:00 in the parking lot of a Hollywood sperm bank. Well, it wasn't a sperm bank per se, but I'd argue that with enough sperm, any bank can become a--"

"\--let's check out the mountains then," Stella said hoping to head off Bernard's story.

"Whoa, hold on. Who made you captain?" Bernard asked. He still had not quite overcome his prejudice towards humans.

"Shut up, Bernard," Stella said.

"Can I at least be the first mate then?" Bernard asked.

"Bernard," Charles whispered, "it's too soon after her wedding to bring that up."

"Charles!" Stella said blushing.

"What? Oh, oh, I see now," Charles apologized, "Sorry, Freudian slip."

"Slip? More like a Freudian face-plant," Bernard sniggered.

"Okay, as captain," Stella announced, "I am instituting a strict no talking policy until we get to the mountains."

"Just as well," Charles said, immediately violating captain's orders. "I gave away the talking stick."

Stella soon realized that it was impossible for Charles and Bernard to remain silent for longer than a few minutes. Luckily, it was only a half day's sail to the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. She took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep while Bernard and Charles managed the yacht.

"\--and until they find his other testicle, I can't go back to Los Angeles," Bernard concluded just as the yacht ran aground, jarring Stella awake.

"We're here!" Charles shouted.

"Good timing," Bernard said, pointing to the gash on the side of the yacht that they had caused by running it into the shore. "I don't think the boat could take much more."

"Hopefully we find something in the mountains," Stella said acknowledging their loss of the yacht.

"Let me get my luggage," Charles said grabbing his briefcase.

"Say, what's in there anyway?" Bernard asked. But Charles had already leaped off the yacht.

"Where to next?" Charles asked from the shore. "Up the mountain?"

"Maybe we should wait until daylight?" Stella suggested. It did not seem wise to make their way up a mountain in the dark.

"No way!" Bernard answered following Charles off the boat. "There's bears in these mountains."

"All the more reason to wait," Stella said following the chimpanzee and orangutan.

"Why?" Bernard asked, "this way the bears won't be able to see us."

"I don't think bears work that way," Stella said. Charles and Bernard paid her no attention, so she had no choice but to follow them the best she could. As a human, she was at a distinct disadvantage as her height slowed her progress through the dense underbrush. As the sun set, it got darker and darker and more difficult to keep each other in sight.

"Where are you guys even going?" Stella shouted out to them. She had lost sight of Bernard.

"I'm just following Charles!" Bernard called out from front of her.

"Wait, I was following Stella!" called out Charles, who somehow had managed to make his way behind Stella and Bernard.

"Hold on, let's catch our breaths," Stella said when they came to a small clearing in the forest.

"You aren't the captain anymore," muttered Bernard, "stop giving us orders!" Although, he was more than happy to sit down and take a rest.

"Do either of you know where we are going?" Stella asked once Charles had caught up to them.

"To the top of the mountain?" Charles said hesitantly.

"Now that I think about it," Bernard said, "I think Stella was wrong about Magic Monkey Mountain. Worse captain ever."

"Shut up Bernard!" Stella said.

There was a fierce growl in return.

"Geez, Bernard," Stella said, "lighten up."

"Uh, that wasn't me," Bernard said.

"Charles?"

"Nope, not me either?"

"Crap," Stella said.

"Quick! Get in a tree!" Bernard shouted and he and Charles vaulted up the nearest trunk. "Sorry Stella."

"Here, grab my hand!" Charles said offering to pull Stella up after him."

"Bears can climb you idiots," Stella shouted.

A large black bear entered the clearing. He sniffed the briefcase that Charles had forgotten on the ground.

"Oh, that's not for bears!" Charles shouted. He shimmied down the tree and carefully approached the bear. There was the sound of snapping branches and Bernard plummeted to the ground.

"My coccyx!" Bernard shouted. However, Charles was so intent on the bear and his briefcase that he missed an excellent opportunity for a Freudian interpretation.

"Charles, just let him have it," Stella called out from the opposite edge of the clearing.

"Oh, he'll have it for sure if he ruins my case," Charles said. "We all will have it!"

The bear grabbed the case with his mouth and began to amble off with it. Charles followed yelling at it to bring it back. Stella followed Charles. Bernard, who forgot he had allegedly injured his tail bone, limped after them complaining about an injury to his left knee. The chase led them through the woods to a narrow path that winded up hill. The bear routinely had to stop and wait for the three primates to catch up with him. It was unusual behavior, but Charles, Stella, and Bernard, were too exhausted to take notice or think about what it might imply. After quite a while, they came to a crystal clear blue alpine lake. Here, the bear dropped the case and went over to a small contraption and bit down on a lever. A bright green light illuminated the lake shore.

"I don't think bears are supposed to work that way," Stella gasped, still winded from the hike up the path.

The contraption had ejected a piece of dried fish when the bear had pulled the lever. He was happily gnawing on his reward.

"What is this place?" Charles asked, "what's going on?"

"I have no idea," Stella said. "I'm not sure that I want to find out."

"It can't be worse than wandering in the woods," Bernard argued, "besides, maybe they have a brace, or better yet, some pills for my knee."

"What do you say, Charles?" Stella asked her friend. "Should we stay or should we go?"

"I don't know," Charles said. "Bernard has a good point; we don't really have much in the way of alternatives. That being said, I have a really bad feeling about this place."

"Well, let's just wait and see," Bernard said. He kicked at the contraption to see if it would eject another fish. It did not. He looked at the piece the bear was eating enviously. The bear looked back with a smug expression.

They did not have long to wait. Another light was soon seen on the lake and the sound of a motorboat was heard. The three travelers looked to try to identify the approaching stranger. Charles was the first to speak.

"Oh no, no, no! It can't be!" he exclaimed.

"What's the matter? You know them? Who is it?" Stella asked in a rush.

"Oh, this is terrible, terrible!" Charles moaned and slumped to the ground.

"Charles! Who is it?" Stella asked.

"The last person I ever wanted to see," Charles said.

"Who?" asked Stella and Bernard.

"Felicia," Charles said.

"Felicia?" Stella asked, "The Felicia?"

"Felicia who?" Bernard asked.

"My ex-wife," Charles answered.

#

Chapter 22

"Charles, I wish I could say it was nice to see you, but..." Felicia said motioning to Charles' lack of hair. The motorboat had picked up Stella, Charles, Bernard, and the bear. They were now headed toward an island in the middle of the lake.

"After a while, you barely notice it," Stella said trying to help out.

"What are you doing here, Felicia?" Charles asked.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Felicia asked in reply.

"Charles must have forgotten his manners," Bernard said introducing himself. "Hello, my name is Bernard."

"Careful," Stella muttered to him off to the side. While Felicia had worked as a mechanic on the ship that Stella had stowed away on, she had only once, very briefly, met her in person. However, she had heard plenty about her from Charles and the rest of the crew. The two chimpanzees had a rather messy break-up.

"I'm running an honest business now," Felicia said when it was obvious that Charles was not going to answer her question.

"Smuggling? Wouldn't say that was too honest," Stella said.

"I'm providing people with fresh and healthy produce," Felicia countered, "sounds pretty wholesome to me."

"But, but--" Charles stammered.

"Yes, yes, I know what you are going to say," Felicia said. "We've had a messy past. I saw my opportunity and I took it. I'm not going to apologize for that."

"Not going to apologize!" Charles said, finally finding his words.

The bear growled at him.

"Might want to watch your tone," Felicia said. "Skinner is quite protective. I made him that way."

"Made him?" Bernard asked.

"She a geneticist," Stella explained.

"Oh, she's a lot of things, that's for sure!" Charles added.

"Why did you make him?" Bernard asked.

"We needed a good guard for the farm," Felicia said, "I figured a guard bear was in order. He isn't quite as fancy as what I was able to whip up back when I was at Genesis, but he gets the job done."

"We?" Charles asked, "you don't mean that he is here too?"

"Of course he is," Felicia said.

"That's it! I'm out!" Charles said. "I refuse to see him!"

"Well, I'll remind you that you came to us, not the other way around," Felicia said. "So, it's a little too late to be making ultimatums now. Unless you want to swim back to the shore."

Charles seriously thought about it, but before he could make the plunge into the water, the boat pulled up to a wooden pier and Skinner bounded out. Felicia tied up the boat and followed the bear. Bernard looked at Stella and Charles, then followed Felicia.

"Come on, Charles," Stella said, "there's no choice." Charles sighed and followed her off the boat. They walked down the pier and along a path on the island's shore. They came to a series of hastily put together wooden shacks with generators and solar panels scattered in between. The generators were powering large flood lights that glared onto rows of crops keeping them warm in the cool mountain air. Alongside the field was a Genesis space pod that Felicia had stolen when she had left the ship.

"Joe, you'll never guess who Skinner found," Felicia called out. A male chimpanzee came out of one of the shacks.

"Charles?" he said. "Well, this is awkward."

"I ought to--" Charles started, and ran towards Joe. He tripped over his briefcase on the way there and fell over. It was just as well; it was pretty obvious that Joe could best Charles in any fight.

"Come on you two, behave," Felicia said. "We are all adults here."

"You stole my wife!" Charles shouted.

"No one stole me," Felicia said.

"Come on Charles," Joe said. "It wasn't working out. You had to have seen that."

"I saw nothing!" Charles said. "You made her into a criminal! And you--"

"Charles, come on," Felicia said. "Life aboard the ship was fine for someone like you, but it wasn't for me."

"Someone like me?" Charles asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know," Felicia said, searching for the right words. "Someone who is, let's say, satisfied, by their position in her life. I wanted more, and so did Joe."

"Satisfied?" Charles asked.

"There's nothing wrong with a lack of ambition," Felicia said. "It is just that I'm the type of person who needs to take risks and push herself."

"Are you saying I'm boring or lazy?" Charles asked.

"Face it, Charles," Joe said. "She's a genius, and you, well, are not. Look at everything she and I have built here."

"Yes, about that," Bernard said, "I noticed that there is an abundance of food here and, well, it's been quite a while since we have eaten..."

"Joe, maybe it's best if you take, was it Bernard? Yes, take Bernard, and this human, and get them something to eat."

Stella made no move to abandon Charles, but Bernard happily followed Joe into one of the shacks.

"Let's move on--" Felicia said.

"Easy for you to say," Charles muttered.

"\--Why are you here? And who are you? You look vaguely familiar," Felicia asked Stella.

"I'm Stella," Stella answered, "I stowaway on your ship."

"Ah, that's it!" Felicia said. "I don't think we were ever introduced."

"You were too busy destroying our marriage," Charles said.

"We're looking for a girl. A teenager that Genesis kidnapped," Stella said.

"Why?" Felica asked.

"It's our job," Charles said. "Plus, we help our friends, you wouldn't understand."

"Job?" Felicia asked.

"After Genesis, Charles opened up a detective agency," Stella explained. She hoped that it would impress Felicia. She was wrong.

"A detective agency? Like that pathetic Ray Parallax?" Felica said. She could not hide her smile. "Oh my, that's hilar-- I mean, that's very good for you."

"Can you get us to the moon?" Stella asked.

"Why would we do that?" Felicia asked.

"You have a ship," Stella said, pointing to the Genesis pod.

"Yes, I do. That isn't what I asked," Felicia said.

"Well, because it is the right thing to do?" Stella said. "The girl needs help."

"Don't bother, Stella," Charles said. "You are asking the wrong chimp."

"A lot of people need help," Felicia pointed out. "I can't risk everything to help everyone who comes knocking."

"I thought you said you liked to take risks?" Stella pointed out.

"Only when there's something to gain from it," Felica said.

"Fine," Stella said. She was hoping that she wouldn't have to tell Felicia about the virus. She did not trust the ape, but it was the only bargaining chip she had. "How about for a cure to the virus?"

"What are you talking about?" Felicia asked.

"She doesn't care about humans," Charles said, "she doesn't care about anyone but herself."

"Well, then she'd care about cutting in on Genesis' vaccine sales," Stella said.

"I might be interested," Felicia said, "but I'm not sure what you are offering."

"My blood," Stella said, "or at least a sample of it. I'm guessing between your bear and all of these crops you've engineered you have a lab here?"

"You'd guess right," Felicia said.

"Well then take a sample of my blood. Take a look at that and that will answer all of your questions," Stella said. "But," she added, "you have to promise to take us to the Genesis headquarters first."

"Don't trust her, Stella," Charles said. "Her promises are worthless. Look at her marriage vows."

"I'm no fan of Genesis," Felicia answered, "If there's a way I can strike back at them and turn a profit, I'm in."

"So that's a yes?" Stella asked. "You'll take us to the moon?"

"Yes," Felicia said, "If, and this is a big if, I can find any evidence of this cure that you're talking about. It sounds like nonsense to me." Felicia led them to the Genesis space pod, and they entered. She opened the door to the small sick bay and the three of them went inside.

"Who's that," a computerized voice said over the pod's intercom.

"Eve? Is that you?" Charles asked. Back on the Genesis ship Felicia, Joe, and he had worked on, Eve was the artificial intelligence navigational system. Charles has thought she had been destroyed, but apparently she managed to escape with Joe and Felicia.

"Charles? Is that you?" Eve asked. "You'll have to excuse me; I've had a rough time of it."

"I thought you were dead," Charles said.

"Might as well be," Eve said. "Crammed inside here, who knows where. Well, I actually do know where. What kind of navigational system would I be if I didn't?"

"Not a very good one," Charles could not help answering her rhetorical question.

"Wait, did they send you to rescue me? You of all people?" Eve asked. For an emotionless piece of artificial intelligence, there was a remarkable amount of desperation in Eve's voice.

"What are you talking about?" Charles asked.

"Genesis? Did the company send you to rescue me? After all I've given to them, they couldn't send someone better?"

"Ouch," Stella said. Charles was already having a rough day.

"No one is rescuing anyone," Felicia said. Stella wanted to point out that they were very interested in rescuing Delilah, but Felicia had further instructions for her.

"Sit down," Felicia told Stella. Stella did so and Felica rummaged in a drawer for a vial and syringe. She took a sample of Stella's blood, put a few drops of it on a microscope slide.

"You two might as well go get something to eat," Felicia said. "It will take me a while to examine this. You," she said to Stella, "try to make sure he and Joe don't kill one another."

"Charles," Eve tried to whisper as they left. It was pretty futile as she could only speak over the intercom and everyone could hear her, "Sorry about what I said before. Please, tell Genesis that--"

"Do you think she'll take us?" Charles asked not even stopping to let Eve finish. They exited the pod and walked across the open lawn.

"I don't know," Stella admitted. "But I don't see a lot of other options."

Charles looked down at his briefcase, then pushed the idea out of his mind. "Let's get something to eat," he said instead.

They wandered over to the shack they had seen Joe and Bernard enter. Joe had the sense to leave out a few bowls of food and then had made himself scarce. Bernard had finished his own bowl and was making his way through the second.

"Hey!" Stella said grabbing it from him.

"You had your chance!" Bernard said, making a move to grab it back.

"Let him have it," Charles said. "I'm not hungry."

Bernard finished off his second bowl while Stella ate her portion. Bernard instantly fell asleep when he was done, and Stella found herself dozing off as well. They were awakened by a shout from outside.

"Joe! Get you things, we're going to the moon!" called Felica. Stella, Charles and Bernard ran outside.

"I don't know where you got it, or how, but you weren't kidding about your blood," Felicia said when she saw Stella.

"So, we have a deal?" Stella asked. "You'll take us to the moon in exchange for the cure?"

"Cure? Oh no, you don't have a cure," Felicia said. "Don't worry, we're still taking you to the moon," she added when she saw the dark expression cross Stella's face. "It's just not a cure, per se. Rather, you have a mutated strain of the virus that seems to naturally inoculate its host."

"Let's go back to that 'we,'" Charles said. "You don't mean he is coming?"

"Joe? Of course he is. He's going to fly us," Felicia said. "Where did you pick this up?" she asked Stella.

"I think the less details the better," Stella said.

"Fine, fine," Felicia said, "be like that. I don't need to know."

"You'll be able to make a cure from it?" Stella asked.

"It'll take some work, but I think so, given enough time and resources," Felicia said. "Maybe we can see if we can 'borrow' some lab equipment from Genesis while we're there."

"Again, I really don't like this use of 'we,'" Charles said. "Need I remind you what happened the last time we were all in space together?" Skinner wandered up to the group preventing and response from Felicia.

"You'll have to be in charge of the farm while momma and poppa are gone," Felicia said rubbing Skinner affectionately under the chin.

"Poppa? Yuck," Charles gagged. Felicia did not hear him; she had hurried off to join Joe in getting things ready for their departure.

"Let's go get settled in," Stella said, leading Charles and Bernard to the pod. "I have a feeling this is going to be an uncomfortable trip for a variety of reasons."

#

Chapter 23

"I'm pretty sure he's dead," Delilah said leaning over Ray.

"He's not dead, he's breathing," Jessica said.

"Well, if he's not dead now, he will be soon. No point sitting around here in the dark."

"We can't just leave them."

"Why not? That's what happened to us."

"Not dead," Ray muttered slowly coming to.

"See, he said he's dead," Delilah said.

"Not dead!" Ray said a bit more forcefully.

"See!" Jessica said.

"Fine, fine, don't act so excited about it," Delilah said.

"I'm not dead," Ray repeated. He opened his eyes and in the very dim light provided by an electric lantern, he saw the two girls looking down at him.

"Jessica? How did you get down here? What happened?" he asked.

"You were sick," Jessica said.

"I've gathered," Ray answered. The last thing he remembered was being locked in the basement with Delilah and Dr. Lee. Apparently, he got infected soon after and lost consciousness. "Is the doctor okay?" he asked.

"Nope!" Delilah said.

"Delilah!" Jessica scolded. Then answered Ray's question, "She's sick too. But I think she's getting better."

"How did you get down here?" Ray asked.

"The ventilation ducts connect to my chapel," Jessica answered. "We can crawl back and forth."

Ray sat up and looked around. The two girls had brought in food and supplies from the mansion and made a makeshift campsite in the basement.

"Where are the others?" Ray asked.

"The two robots come and go," Delilah said. "They are easily bored."

"I was talking more about Bones," Ray said.

"He put his brother in charge. But he doesn't pay any attention to me," Jessica said. "He just sits up in the house all day looking for Dr. Lee's research."

Their conversation woke up Dr. Lee. Jessica went over to check on her. Ray tested his legs by standing up and taking a few steps around the basement. He looked at the open duct that Jessica had indicated. It was going to be tight, but he was pretty sure that he could fit through it.

"So, Doc," he said coming over to Lee. "What's next?"

"Normally I'd prescribe a lot of bed rest," Lee said, "but I'm guessing that's out of the question given the circumstances."

"I don't think we have that luxury," Ray agreed.

"Well then, I guess the first thing is to get out of here," Lee said. "Then I guess try to get off the moon? I don't see how though."

"There's a U.N. embassy downtown," Ray answered. "Our best bet is them. Once they find out what Genesis is up to, they'll have to act. I hope."

"We don't have any poof though," Lee pointed out.

"Well, they'll have to believe you," Ray said. "And then there are the girls."

"Yeah, but that doesn't implicate Genesis," Lee said. "At best, it just implicates me."

"Don't you have anything here in the basement?" Ray asked.

"A little," Lee answered. "Most of it was with my research on that computer you conveniently gave to Randolph."

"Don't blame me," Ray said. "You should have made copies."

"Genesis was pretty good about tracking the digital files. And if I printed off all of my research, every genetic sequence, do you know how much paper that'd take? They'd have to cut down every tree on the moon."

"Excuses, excuses," Ray said.

"Sorry," sneered Lee, "next time I'll plan better."

"Okay, okay, sorry," Ray said. "You get the girls to the U.N. I'll sneak into Genesis and grab your research." It was going to be more difficult than that, Ray knew. But it was the only plan he could thing of.

"Oh fantastic, send the woman and children away," Lee said. "How stereotypical."

"We could swap if you want," Ray said, "but I'd need a hell of crash course in biotics if I'm going to take your place. I don't think we have the time for that."

"So, first of all, it's 'biology,' not 'biotics,'" Lee corrected, "second of all, point taken."

"Do you think you can walk?" Ray asked her.

"If you can do it, I certainly can," Lee said standing up. "Come on Jessica, and Jessica's sister."

Jessica, Delilah, Ray, and Lee quickly gathered up a few things and then made their way to the open duct. Jessica and Delilah vaulted easily up into it and disappeared. It took Ray and Lee, a bit more effort, quite a bit more, to follow them. Ray in particular hated confined spaces, and the short trip through the duct brought back many unpleasant memories of his childhood working in the Martian mines. When he came to the chapel, formerly the maintenance shed, he happily pulled himself out of the duct and fell with relief in the open space.

"Get out of the way, Ray," Lee said pulling herself out.

"I don't see anyone," Jessica said looking out the chapel door.

"Do we really have to go to the U.N.?" Delilah asked. "It sounds so boring. I want to break into Genesis."

"I'd have thought you had enough of them by now," Lee said.

"You guys go first," Ray said catching his breath from the climb through the tunnel. "I'll sit here and make sure you aren't followed."

"Yeah, I bet," Delilah murmured noticing Ray's shortness of breath.

"Come on girls," Lee said. "We can catch a cab a few blocks down." The doctor and two teenagers left the chapel and hurried out of the yard and out of sight. Ray, true to his word, kept an eye out to see if there was any movement in the house while he rested up. Once he was sure all was quiet, he made his own way out of the chapel and into the yard. He hurried to the corner of the house, ducked low to avoid the windows and ran out to the front yard. There was no sign of anything unusual, just the normal traffic beyond the front gate of the mansion. He crossed the front yard, opened the latch in the gate, and walked onto the front street. It occurred to him for the first time that he had no idea how to get to Genesis headquarters.

He walked quickly down the street while he racked his brain for an answer. His objective was too sensitive to risk a cab ride. He also did not want to risk getting caught stealing a private vehicle from one of the homes along the street. When he worked at the headquarters, he had lodged in the security barracks. However, he knew that employees with families often lived offsite and took a company shuttle to work. Unfortunately, this neighborhood was upscale enough that he doubted that there was much demand for an employee shuttle here.

"Hey Ray!" Ray turned around at the sound of his name.

"Edgar!" He said as the robot came towards him.

"How's it going?" Edgar asked.

"Ah, now's not the best time," Ray said.

"Is it because Devin is it?" Edgar asked.

"No, it's because--"

"Or is it because he is hiding?" Edgar asked. "I forget, is it my turn to hide or seek? Are we even still playing hide and seek or did we switch? There's so many rules."

"Edgar, keep it quiet," Ray said.

"Oh, so I am hiding!" Edgar said happily.

"No, we are sneaking into Genesis to steal back Lee's research," Ray explained. "And no, it's not a game."

"It sounds like a game."

"Be that as it may, we have to go," Ray said.

"Shouldn't we wait for Sam?" Edgar asked.

"No! Of course not!" Ray said.

"Oh, awkward, because I just passed him on the way here."

"You what!" Just then, Samuel Bones turned the corner panting.

"What are you doing?" Bones asked in between gasps.

"What does it look like?" Ray asked, "I'm getting out of here!"

"Where's the doctor and kids?" Bones asked.

"You're too late, they're gone," Ray answered.

"Ahh, I'm going to miss them," Edgar said swirling around the two men.

"Gone? There's going to be hell to pay when my brother finds out," Bones said. "And I don't intend to pay it." He lunged towards Ray. Given that both men had recently been quite sick with the virus, the ensuing conflict displayed an unusual lack for energy for a street fight.

"That's not how you do it!" Edgar shouted and zoomed right into the back of Samuel Bone's head knocking him into the ground.

"Thanks, Edgar," Ray said panting. "I apprec--"

Edgar came zooming into Ray and collided with his skull also knocking him unconscious. He joined Samuel Bones on the concrete sidewalk.

"See, that's how you play!" Edgar said happily. There was no response from the two unconscious men. "See? Guys? You need a time out? Oops."

#

Chapter 24

"Everyone buckle up," Felicia announced through the pod's intercom. Felicia and Joe where in the pod's upper level. Stella, Charles, and Bernard were in the passenger section on the lower level.

"How?" Stella asked. There were no seat belts on the chairs.

"That was more for us," Felicia called out through the intercom. "By the way, we've had to strip the pod of a lot of parts for the farm. So, you may notice some pressure as we ascend."

"Told you we shouldn't be doing this," Charles said gripping his seat as the pod thundered to life.

"It's going to be okay, Charles," Stella said trying to reassure him. She had trouble convincing herself though.

"It's been a while since I've gone into space," Bernard said. "The last time was--" To the relief of Stella and Charles, he did not finish the story. Less relieving was the reason for the interruption; the pod had shot upward, and all three passengers experienced a sudden increase in gravitational pressure. None of them could breathe much less talk. After what felt like forever, they had traveled out of Earth's orbit and found themselves weightless and floating in the passenger room.

"You guys all right down there?" Felicia asked through the intercom.

"No!" Charles shouted.

"Sorry," Felicia said, "like I said, we had to borrow a lot of parts. We tried to keep the acceleration below the lethal limits though."

"Thank you?" Stella muttered.

"We also had to do away with the artificial gravity," Felicia continued.

"We noticed," Stella said.

"But the other life support systems should be intact, more or less," Felicia said.

"More or less?" Stella asked.

"Told you this was a terrible idea," Charles repeated.

"I can hear that," Felicia said through the intercom.

"Good. I'm not trying to make a secret of it," Charles shouted back.

"You want me to turn around?" Felicia asked.

"No!" Stella, Bernard, and Charles shouted.

"Then I advise you sit tight and enjoy the ride," Felicia said.

"Sit tight? How?" Stella asked floating above the chair.

"This might be a bad time to ask," Bernard asked, "but is there a restroom on board? Oh should I just--"

"Don't you dare!" Stella shouted.

"Felicia!" Charles shouted.

"Across the hall!" Joe called out from the upper level. Getting there in zero gravity was easier said than done, but Bernard managed to accomplish it to the relief of all on board. The passengers managed to jam themselves between the chairs or otherwise secure themselves in one position. With nothing else to do, they managed to nap for the several hours that it took to approach the moon.

"Okay guys," Felicia called out over the intercom waking them up. "It might be a bumpy landing; we have to take some evasive maneuvers to avoid Genesis."

Stella and Charles managed to force themselves into their chairs and braced themselves for the landing.

"Bernard! Wake up!" Stella shouted. Bernard was still napping under his chair.

"Bernard!" Charles shouted.

"Uh, what is it?" Bernard asked slowly coming awake.

"Get into your chair!" Charles said.

"Okay, hold your horses," Bernard replied pulling himself out. "Oops!" He accidentally let go and floated upward.

"Bernard!" Stella shouted. It was too late; the pod was hurtling towards the surface and Bernard was forced to the ceiling. Stella and Charles had to use all their strength to hold themselves in position. Just when it seemed like they couldn't take anymore, the pod slowed to a stop, and then thudded down making its final landing. Bernard was thrown to the floor and Charles and Stella landed in their seats.

"Huh, not as bad as I expected," Felicia said bounding down the stairs into the passenger room. She pushed a series of buttons and the pod door opened.

"Crap," she said.

"What is it?" Stella asked coming around behind her. The pod had landed in a large open field. However, in the distance they could see flashing lights and hear sirens coming towards them.

"I thought you said you were taking evasive action?" Stella said.

"I did, I did," Felicia said. "I don't know what could have--wait a minute. Eve what did you do?" It suddenly occurred to everyone on board that the ship had been suspiciously quite for the whole trip to the moon.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Eve said over the intercom.

"You ratted us out!" Felecia accused.

"Oh that," Eve said. "Well, unlike you guys, I am still a loyal employee of Genesis. Of course I'm going to let them know about any stolen property so they can reclaim it. Especially when I am that property."

"What do we do?" Bernard asked sitting up from where he crashed on the floor. The group did not have time to decide. The Genesis guards had arrived and were approaching the pod with their weapons drawn.

"Everyone get on the ground!" ordered the guard who came into the pod. He was followed by a dozen others.

"Done and done!" Bernard said remaining on the floor. The others had no choice but to comply.

"They're all here," Eve said, "criminals everyone."

"I should have wiped your whole system," Joe muttered from his spot on the floor by the stairs.

"They're all clean, sir," a guard said after each was searched for weapons. Luckily, they overlooked Charles' briefcase that was laying under a chair.

"Line up along the wall," the lead guard ordered pointing to the wall alongside the passenger room. Stella, Felicia, Joe, Bernard, and Charles assembled along the wall. A guard took a retinal scan of Stella and looked at the screen on a handheld unit.

"Stowaway," he announced reading her record as it appeared. "Also, violated her parole. Murderer and thief," he said scanning Felicia. "Ditto," he repeated after scanning Joe. He scanned Bernard. The handheld unit started chirping.

"I didn't even know it could make noise!" The guard said looking at the unit in disbelief. Bernard's criminal record caused the unit to shut down. After restarting it, the guard scanned Charles.

"This one is clean," he said. "Former cook on one of our ships. Holds the record for taking the conflict resolution course the most times."

"Impossible!" The lead guard said examining Charles' record, "I fell asleep during the first fifteen minutes. Anyway, let him go. Cuff the rest of them."

"Hey, not fair!" Charles shouted.

"Charles!" Stella hissed as the guards led them out of the pod.

"Are you sure we shouldn't bring this one in too? As an accomplice?" a guard asked pointing at Charles.

"Nah, he's not worth it," the lead guard said. "We're going to have a full detention center as it is."

"I'm just as tough as the rest of them," Charles argued.

"Charles! Remember Delilah!" Stella urged.

"Take that one," Charles said pointing to Joe, "but let the others go."

"Sir, please stand back," a guard ordered while Stella, Joe, Felicia, and Bernard were forced into one of the vehicles.

"Thank you for your service," the head guard said to Charles.

"I didn't do anything!" Charles retorted, but the guards paid him no mind. They got into the vehicle and drove off.

"Is this your's sir?" A guard asked handing him his briefcase. "We need to return the pod to headquarters."

"Thanks," muttered Charles standing there alone. The remaining guards prepared the pod for transportation. Charles stood thinking what to do next. He was stuck on the moon all by himself. He was not even sure if he had any cash on him to get a meal. He pulled his wallet from his pocket and looked inside.

"I forgot about you," he said pulling out the business card the diplomat had given him. He had thrust it in his wallet and forgotten all about it. He was sure that the U.N. would be interested to hear about what Genesis was up to. Besides, the diplomat had said to give him a call if he ever needed a favor. And now Charles was in a desperate need of a favor.

#

Chapter 25

Charles got a ride to downtown from one of the Genesis vehicles that was heading in that direction. He asked to be let off at the outskirts of the city. Once downtown, and the guards were out of sight, he asked a pedestrian for directions to the U.N. Embassy and walked the several blocks to the building. Compared to Earthen cities, the moon was very affluent. Most of its residents either worked for Genesis or were rich enough to flee Earth and live a life of ease and luxury on the moon; free from plague and famine. Even so, like any city, there were plenty of people less well-off that were seeking help. All those rich people needed servants and others to run the moon's businesses and stores. Jobs did not pay well and cost of living was high. Plus, Genesis was not known to have a positive attitude toward worker rights and unions. Therefore, there was a long line of people snaking down the hallway waiting to speak with an U.N. official seeking help in addressing a grievance.

"Excuse me, coming through," Charles said pushing his way past the crowd. "Sorry, saving humanity, forgive me. Sorry about your toes," he said stepping on people. There were shouts and protests as he made his way through the line.

"Charles!" he heard a shout. He looked behind him.

"Delilah! Other Delilah! Dr. Lee?" He shouted when he saw the two girls and the doctor.

"What are you doing here?" Lee asked him before he could ask the same question.

"Oh, well, it's a long story. My ex-wife left me again. This time, it wasn't her fault, she was taken prisoner. Its' been a really stressful couple of days. In fact, you could say that I've had a 'bear' of a time." He waited for Lee to laugh. "Oh, sorry, you weren't there for Skinner. Well there was this bear--"

"Forget that I asked," Lee said.

"Delilah! I'm so glad I found you," Charles said to Jessica.

"You didn't find me," Delilah answered. "That's not even me."

"Sorry, sorry, you all look the same," Charles replied.

"Did Ray send you?" Lee asked.

"Ray? No, I haven't seen Ray in ages," Charles said, "Like I was saying, my ex-wife--"

"He was supposed to come here with the evidence," Lee said. "Something must have happened."

"Evidence?" Charles asked.

"We don't have time to go into it," Lee said. Even though they did, the line was not moving. "But Genesis is evil and is withholding a cure to the virus--"

"Not a cure, per se," Charles said trying to remember how Felicia explained it. "More like a mutated strain that inoculates people against the more deadly virus."

"Yeah," Lee said impressed, "How did you know?"

"Don't look so shocked," Charles said. "Everyone thinks that boring Charles can't do anything. They want to leave him alone in space, commit adultery, or not arrest me--"

"Maybe skip over the adultery part," Lee whispered indicating the girls.

"Oh, it was just getting interesting!" Delilah sighed.

"It's just not fair!" Charles complained.

"There, there," Jessica said consoling the ape. "It'll all be okay."

"Thanks Delilah," Charles said.

"I'm still Jessica," Jessica said.

"See, you do all look the same!" Charles exclaimed in frustration.

"Let's focus on the issue at hand," Dr. Lee said. "Without my research or any evidence, we have no way to make the U.N. believe us. I mean I could probably convince some of their scientists with the girls' blood--"

"You can't sacrifice us to heathen scientists!" Jessica exclaimed. The other people in line glanced in their direction.

"\--samples, blood samples," Lee continued. "But that will take time and there's no guarantee that they will listen to me."

"Luckily, I have a friend who owes me a favor," Charles said. "Come on."

"What friend?" Lee asked.

"Again, I have friends!" Charles exclaimed in exasperation as he led the doctor and two girls through the line. "Just because I'm not a fancy mechanic doesn't mean--"

"I didn't mean it like that," Lee said. They were nearing the front of the line.

"Hello!" Charles said to the receptionist at the desk.

"You have to wait your turn like everyone else," the receptionist said.

"I am afraid that this can't wait," Charles said. "I need to speak to my friend, Watson."

"Watson?" Asked the receptionists. "Watson who?"

"Uh, oh sorry, Winston, Winston Whittaker," Charles said rereading the card. He handed it to the receptionist.

"Where did you get this?" She asked.

"From Watson," Charles said.

"Winston!" Lee hissed.

"Winston," Charles corrected himself again.

"The French diplomat gave you his private card?" The receptionist asked. "When?"

"Back on Earth. He just got out of the shower after I rescued him from an incriminating situation in night club," Charles said.

"Ah, I see," the receptionist replied. It was clear that Charles' story raised more questions than answers for her.

"Can you just contact him?" Lee asked.

"It is highly irregular," the receptionist said.

"Trust me, this isn't a regular situation," Charles said.

"Normally, I wouldn't," the receptionist said, "but since you do have the card I guess I can give him a call." The receptionist sighed and pressed some buttons on her computer. She swiveled the screen to face Charles and after a few moments, an image of Winston in a bathtub appeared.

"Hello? Hello?" Winston said. "Where's the camera on this thing?"

"Hi Watson!" Charles said happily waving at the screen. Winston finally got the camera situation sorted out and they could see him clearly on the screen.

"Look away girls," Lee instructed to Delilah and Jessica. The computer screen did not leave much to the imagination.

"Who's that?" Winston asked.

"It's me Charles!" Charles replied.

"Charles who?" Winston asked.

"Charles Knight," Charles said.

"Charles Knight who?" Winston asked.

"Charles Knight, the chimpanzee," Charles replied.

"Charles Knight, the chimpanzee--"

"There was some incident at a night club?" Lee said interrupting the diplomat.

"In San Francisco, with the vigilantes?" Charles said filling in the rest of the story.

"Oh yes, now I recall. Boy that certainly was an evening," Winston said smiling at the memory. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, it's a long story," Charles said. "It all began when my ex-wife ran off with--"

"Give him the shortened version," Lee said.

"Well, long story short," Charles said, "there was this bear and--"

"If you want a cure for the virus, plus uncover the crime of the century," Lee said jumping in, "We need you to send some U.N. inspectors to Genesis headquarters."

"Who's that?" Winston asked squinting at the camera.

"This is Dr. Lee," Lee said, "and please, remain seated." Winston had sat up a bit to try to see who was speaking which had rearranged the bubbles in the bath in an unflattering manner.

"Hello, wait, the Dr. Lee?" Winston asked incredulously. Even before coming up with a vaccine, Lee had been famous across the solar system for her research.

"Yes, that one," Lee said. "You can trust me when I say that you need to send your inspectors here immediately."

"Well, how many of them?" Winston asked.

"All of them," answered Lee.

The receptionist sneezed. It occurred to Charles that the two girls infected with their unique virus strain were in rather close contact with the other humans in the room.

"Also, might want to tell them to stock up on their Vitamin C," Charles advised.

#

Chapter 26

Ray opened his eyes. His head was swirling and his vision blurry. He sat up and gingerly felt his head where Edgar had collided with him.

"He's finally awake," he heard someone announce.

"Stella?" Ray asked in shock. Stella stood staring down at him.

"Yeah, fancy meeting you here," Stella answered.

"Where is here?" Ray asked.

"The Genesis detention center. Felicia and Joe are here too," she added.

"Felicia and Joe?" Ray asked, sitting up.

"And Bernard," Bernard added from across the room. The Genesis guards had divided their prisoners between non-humans and humans. Ray and Stella were in one cell and Felicia, Joe, and Bernard shared another cell next to them.

"What are you doing here?" Ray asked. "What is everyone doing here?"

"It's a long story," Stella said. "But you know how I thought Genesis was evil when I stowed away on the ship back on Mars? Turns out, I was right."

"No kidding," Ray said. "I presume you are talking about the virus and the two girls."

"Yeah, you know about them too?" Stella asked.

"Yeah, I was their guard," Ray said.

"Oh, Ray," Stella said. "That's terrible! How could you?"

"I didn't know it at the time," Ray replied. "I thought I was supposed to be protecting them. I had everything wrong."

"That sounds like the Ray I know," Joe said.

"How are they involved?" Ray asked, pointing to the three apes.

"We needed a ride," Stella answered.

Before she could elaborate, a buzzer sounded and a door to the detention center opened. Samuel and Randolph Bones walked in.

"Ah, Ray, you are finally awake," Randolph said.

"Unfortunately, yes," Ray said. "Good to see you again Sam,"

"It's Samuel," Samuel said.

"Hello Bones," Stella said. "You are looking a bit worse for the wear since I last saw you."

"But you look about the same," Samuel said, "Imprisoned."

"It sounds like this doesn't really concern us," Bernard interjected. "More like a matter between four close human friends. So, if you would just be kind enough to unlock this cell we can be on our way."

"You can imagine my surprise," Randolph said, ignoring Bernard, "when I got a call that my brother and another Genesis employee were found unconscious out on a lunar street."

"Especially when you locked said employee in a basement," Ray added.

"Indeed," Randolph said. "But on to more serious matters. I'm afraid--"

He was interrupted by the buzzer and a Genesis guard came in and whispered something to him.

"They are here? Now?" Randolph said with some concern.

"What is it," Samuel asked when Randolph dismissed the guard.

"It appears your friends," he said gesturing to Ray and Stella, "have already gotten in touch with the U.N."

"Already?" Samuel asked. "What strings did they pull?"

"I don't know," Randolph said. "But there's not too much to worry about. We've secured the mansion and there is nothing here to tie us to any of it."

"How about the doctor's research?" Samuel asked.

"We can dispose of that pretty quickly," Randolph said.

"Dispose of it?" Samuels asked, "You can't do that! We can make millions, no billions, off of it!"

"Samuel, Samuel, Samuel," Randolph sighed, "when will you ever learn loyalty?"

"I don't know, but I'll have an abundant amount of free time to study it after we get rich!" Samuel shouted.

"How? Think it through," Randolph told his brother, "you can't make sense of it by yourself. You'd need the doctor."

"Ah, actually," Felicia said, "I think I can help out here."

"Felicia!" Stella snapped, "Keep quiet!"

"And let the U.N. charge me with various crimes? No thanks," Felicia said. "I'm getting out of here."

"What are you talking about?" Samuel said.

"I'm a scientist. I can make the cure, especially if you have Lee's research," Felicia said.

"You can't be seriously considering this," Randolph said. "Samuel, think it through! I protected you once, don't throw it all away over a pipe dream."

"Are you serious? Is she serious?" Samuel asked Stella and Ray. The two humans remained silent.

"She's serious," Joe said, "Felicia is a genius."

"This has gone on long enough," Randolph said going towards the door. "I'm destroying the research once and for all."

"Don't!" Samuel said lunging at his brother. The two wrestled, the prisoners looked on, unable to interfere. Indeed, they were unable to tell the two twins apart. One of them got on top and slammed the other's head into the floor. From the bruised face, they could see that Samuel was the victor.

Randolph moaned from the ground. Samuel rammed his brother's head again into the floor. This time, Randolph made no noise.

"Sorry, it had to be done," Samuel said crawling off his brother. He pulled a set of keys from his brother's pockets and opened up Felicia's cell.

"Oh no, just her," He said when Joe and Bernard made a move to follow her out.

"You're going to need someone to fly you," Joe said.

"He's a pilot," Felicia explained.

"Fine, you can help bring them," Samuel said pointing to Ray and Stella.

"What about me?" Bernard asked as Samuel closed the cell door on him.

"What do you need us for?" Ray asked.

"You guys have the virus strain too, I presume," Samuel said, "I'm not leaving you here for Genesis to experiment with. After what I've had to pay," he said gesturing to his brother on the ground, "I'm taking everything with me." Samuel unlocked their cell.

"Everything? But what about Bernard?" Bernard asked plaintively from the other cell.

"Sorry about this," Felicia said grabbing Stella by the wrist.

"Sorry, not sorry," Joe said grabbing Ray. Neither of the humans were a match for the chimps' strength.

Samuel opened up the detention center's door and slipped past followed by the others.

"Sir?" Asked the guard.

"Don't let anyone in there," Samuel said.

"What about your brother?" The guard asked, assuming Samuel was Randolph.

"Let him be," Samuel said. "He belongs in there. He needs some time to think about some of the choices he's made."

#

Chapter 27

Given the capture of their companions, Charles and Dr. Lee knew that they could not afford to wait and let Genesis destroy any evidence. Therefore, they assembled the small team of U.N. inspectors at the lunar embassy to make an initial foray against Genesis headquarters. They hoped that their small team would be enough to locate and secure the most critical documents until the larger team from Earth arrived.

"In my briefcase here--" Charles began. He figured it was as good as a time as any to hand over the explosives to the proper authorities.

"Not now, Charles," Lee interrupted them. They were in a small ship taking them across the moon to Genesis' headquarters. Lee was instructing the U.N. inspectors about what to look for and the layout of the laboratories in the building.

"I really think this is important," Charles said.

"Not as important as this. Please stop interrupting, or I'll make you wait here," Lee threatened.

"Fine," muttered Charles. He found it amazing to observe how quickly Lee forgot it was him that had gotten them into contact with the U.N. in the first place.

"We'll be there in two minutes," the pilot called out from the head of the craft.

"Remember," Lee said, "the priority is to get all of the research and anything that ties Genesis to a cover up."

"Uh, the priority is rescuing our friends," Charles corrected. "Not Joe of course, but the others."

"Charles, what did I say about interrupting? I should have left you back at the embassy with the girls."

"Hey, you're only here because of me and my friend Watson," Charles shot back.

"Winston," Lee corrected.

"Yeah, him too," Charles said. "We need to rescue Stella and Ray. Maybe Bernard too, we'll see."

"They're perfectly safe in the detention center," Lee said. "There's bigger things at stake here."

Charles was going to argue further, but the pilot indicated it was time to put on their seat belts and prepare for landing. After his previous flight, he was not going to take any chances. This landing was much smoother than the one before, and before the craft had even stopped, the inspectors had thrown open the doors and were leaping out.

"You can stay here if you want," Lee shouted to Charles.

"Why would I stay here?" he shouted back scrambling after the group. All the inspectors were humans and had legs much longer than he had making it difficult for him to keep pace. The small team burst through the headquarters doors.

"United Nations! This is a raid!" the lead inspector shouted. The Genesis employees in the lobby were caught off guard, but soon hustled to action. Many ran off to alert their superiors about the raid. Others stayed to try to detain the inspectors by asking to see warrants and credentials.

"The labs are this way," Lee announced pointing to the hall on the left.

"Which way is the detention center?" Charles shouted out.

"No Charles!" Lee reminded him, "I told--you know what, never mind. It's downstairs, go down there and stay out of the way."

Charles was not going to argue, even though he resented Lee's patronizing tone. If she was not going to rescue their friends, then he would. He grabbed an id badge off the nearest Genesis employee and raced over to an elevator. He swiped the badge and pressed the button for the basement floor. After a short wait, the door opened and he came to a desk with a guard sitting at it.

"United Nations," Charles said holding up the badge.

"Uh, doesn't look like it," the guard said looking at the Genesis ID badge.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Charles said, pocketing the badge. "Open up the door."

"Can't. Mr. Bones ordered that no one enter."

"Mr. Bones is in big trouble," Charles said. "You all will be if you don't open that door."

"I'll have to make a call," the guard answered.

"Make a call? Don't be ridiculous," Charles said. "There's a raid going on."

"Still, rules are rules," the guard replied.

"Fine, but make it quick," Charles sighed.

The guard punched a number into the phone on the desk. Moments later, they heard ringing from behind the closed door.

"That's weird," the guard said. He went to the door and opened it Charles saw his chance and bolted in.

"Bernard!" he shouted.

"Charles!" Bernard shouted. "Oh, it's terrible! Terrible!"

"Mr. Bones? Mr. Bones?" the guard asked shaking the still body of Randolph. The phone in his pocket continued to ring.

"Where's everyone else?" Charles asked Bernard. "Keys?" he asked the guard who was so shocked by Randolph's body that he handed over the keys to the cell without comment.

"It's terrible!" Bernard repeated. "You were right about Felicia, Charles, she is a menace!"

"What? Bernard, what happened? Where is everyone?"

"They left me behind!" moaned Bernard.

"Where did they go?" Charles asked.

"After all I did for them," Bernard said. "Or at least was willing to do. I didn't really have the time to get to know them well. But still, the principle of the thing!"

"Bernard, where did they go?"

"I told you, they left me behind!"

"But where?"

"You really are focusing on the wrong details here," Bernard said. "But if you really must know, they were talking a lot about some research that he had," Bernard said pointing to Randolph's corpse.

"Where is his office?" Charles demanded of the guard. The guard was furiously trying to do the Heimlich maneuver on Randolph's corpse. Charles did not have the heart to tell him that it was the wrong procedure for the situation.

"Upstairs, twelfth level," the guard finally muttered.

"Thanks," he said. Then took pity on the man. "Not that it's going to help his bashed skull, but I really recommend you switch to CPR." Then he rushed out of the detention center.

"Charles! Wait!" Bernard called out. He rushed past the guard who was racking his brain trying to remember his CPR training. "Don't leave me behind, not you too!"

#

Chapter 28

"Get in there!" Samuel said, ordering Felicia and Joe to shove Ray and Stella into Randolph's penthouse office on the twelfth floor. "Hurry, the inspectors won't be long."

Felicia handed Stella to Bones to hold while she rummaged through Randolph's desk. The drawer was locked, but it was no match for a chimpanzee's strength; she forced it open and found Lee's computer.

"Is that it?" Samuel asked, as Felicia skimmed the files on the computer. "Hurry!"

"This should do it," she said, "Let me just copy them over."

"We don't have time. Here," he said shoving Stella back to Felicia. He slammed the computer closed and threw it in a leather briefcase that was sitting by the side of the desk. "Let's go!" he ordered.

The two chimpanzees forced their prisoners out of the office just as the elevator door down the hall opened.

"Stella!" Charles exclaimed.

"Charles!" Stella exclaimed.

"Charles!" Ray exclaimed.

"Ray!" Charles exclaimed.

"And Bernard!" Bernard added from behind Charles. It would have been a touching reunion under different circumstances.

"The stairs! Take the stairs!" Samuel ordered.

Joe and Felicia swung Ray and Stella around and followed Samuel down the other end of the hall to the emergency exit. Charles and Bernard followed. The chimpanzee and orangutan, not burdened by any prisoners, soon made up the distances.

"Up! Up!" Samuel ordered as he raced up the stairway. Joe decided to jettison his load and threw Ray down the stairs into Charles and Bernard. This bought enough time for him, Felicia, Stella, and Samuel to make it the top of the stairway and out of the exit and onto the roof.

"Hi Ray!" Charles said catching his fellow detective with one arm. The other still clung to his briefcase.

"Hi Charles, no time to chat I'm afraid," Ray said getting to his feet and leading the way up the stairs. He, Charles, and Bernard burst through the door just as Joe was starting the helicopter. The blades began to swirl as Ray raced to the helipad and grabbed Samuel Bones just as he was leaping onto the helicopter. The two men tumbled onto the roof of the building and Charles and Bernard leaped into the pile. Joe started lifting up the helicopter, intending to leave the scene behind.

"No Joe! He has the research!" Felicia shouted from the back of the helicopter. Indeed, the briefcase with the doctor's research was currently in the pile of humans, chimpanzees, and orangutans, fighting on the roof.

"Who cares?" Joe asked.

"I do! I'm not leaving empty handed," Felicia said.

"Empty handed? Then what am I?" Stella asked. She was still being restrained by Felicia.

"Dammit!" Joe swore. The helicopter slammed back down on the helipad and he leaped out and joined the fight. He slugged Bernard who collapsed on the ground, then strove to separate Ray, Charles, and Samuel.

The fight was looking like it could go either way when Felicia decided to put an end to it.

"Stop!" she ordered. She stood on the edge of the helicopter and lifted Stella dangerously close to the swirling blades.

"Felicia!" Charles pleaded.

"I'll do it!" Felicia said. Stella remained still, afraid that any movement on her part would cause her to be eviscerated by the helicopter.

"I'm sorry Charles, it's her or the research," Felicia said.

"Don't!" Stella called out to Charles. "The cure is more important!"

"Lee can always redo her work," Felecia said, "it will take her longer, but it is replaceable. Your friend isn't."

"But--" Stella was going to mention all the people who would die of the virus in the meantime but Felicia raised her a bit higher towards the blades, forcing her to remain silent.

"Fine, fine," Charles said. "Just let her go."

"Me too!" Samuel said, "you'll need my blood sample."

"Fine," Felicia said. "Stella for the case and the executive."

"Whatever just take it," Charles said handing the briefcase to Samuel. It was worse for the wear after the fight. Samuel was in no better condition, bruised and battered, he crawled onto the helicopter followed by Joe.

"Now give her back," Charles ordered. Felicia lowered Stella and unceremoniously dumped her to the roof of the building as Joe began to raise the helicopter.

"It's not too late, Felicia," Charles pleaded. "We can all just forget about this."

"I can't," Stella muttered as she got up and dusted herself off.

"Sorry Charles," Felicia called out as the helicopter rose over the building. "I know you'll never understand," she called out as they flew off to the west.

"And you'll never understand," Charles sighed to himself, Felicia and those on the helicopter were well outside the range of hearing. "I switched the cases." He went over to Bernard who was still moaning on the ground and from under him, pulled out Bones' shiny new briefcase that he had swapped with his own during their fight.

"Charles, what was in that case?" Stella asked.

"Well, I had a plan," Charles explained. "In the heat of the moment, it seemed brilliant. But now, like back in Newer Helvetia, I'm worried it might have been a bit overkill. Perhaps lit--"

Charles was interrupted by a tremendous blast. In the distance, all that remained of the helicopter was a ball of smoke and some burning debris raining to the lunar surface. There were no signs of survivors.

"I think I'm going to need to revisit my psychiatry books," Charles said, staring at what one could only assume was the remains of his ex-wife floating in the air. "Because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have mixed feelings about all of this."

#

Chapter 29

"Earth owes you a tremendous debt," the Secretary General of the U.N. said from the screen. Stella, Charles, and Ray were assembled in the lunar U.N. embassy around a conference table. The raid on Genesis headquarters had been tremendously successful. The files on Dr. Lee's computer were enough to indict the company with a laundry list of crimes against humanity. Lee was now busy in a U.N. laboratory completing her research using blood samples from Jessica, Delilah, Ray, and Stella.

"Thank you, Aunt Linda," Winston Whittaker responded. While the diplomat had arrived on the moon after all the excitement at Genesis, we was more than willing to take the credit for it.

"Not you, Winston," the Secretary General sighed.

"Thank you, Madam," Ray and Stella both replied. Charles, as he predicted, had mixed feelings about what had happened on the roof of the Genesis building, and had been silent and morose ever since he blew up his ex-wife.

"You'll also be happy to know that we found a very nice foster home for the two Salk sisters," the Secretary General said. "I don't think I can say that any of us can look forward to a normal life, not with the virus hopefully at its end. But I do think they'll have bright futures to look forward to."

"I'm glad to hear that," Stella said.

"Your friend Bernard's case was a bit more difficult," the Secretary General said, "but I was able to secure him a pardon for most of his crimes."

"I'm ambivalent to hear that," Stella responded. "But good for him."

"If I can ask," Ray interjected, "What will happen to Genesis?"

"Well, we're still gathering evidence to make a case, but thanks to you, I think we will have enough to charge them with crimes against humanity," the Secretary General said. "We've seized most of their assets here on Earth and on the Moon, but we still have to deal with their space stations at the edge of the solar system."

"How about us?" Stella asked. "Can we help?" She was always eager to strike any blow she could against the corporation.

"That is very generous of you," the Secretary General replied, but I think we could use your help closer to home."

"I'm looking forward to finally be able to be out in public in San Francisco," Stella said. "I'm assuming that the vigilantes are no longer a factor?"

"Correct," the Secretary General answered. "But I was not talking about San Francisco, I need your help back on Mars."

"Mars?" Ray asked eagerly; the thought of returning to his home planet thrilled him.

"Lee will have a cure soon, and with the virus nearly ended, it is high time we repaired our relations with our neighbor planet," the Secretary General said. Mars had enacted an embargo against Earth to prevent the spread of the virus. Ray and Stella had left the planet illegally when they boarded the Genesis spaceship on their last case. "I imagine there will be some issues that need smoothing over and you all have more recent experience on the planet than anyone else here on Earth."

Ray, Stella, and Charles were stunned speechless.

"I'm going home?" Ray asked, emotion in his voice.

"Yes. There's a lot to do there," said the Secretary General. "So, rest up. You'll be back in New Los Angeles before you know it."

