ANA II

Chapter 7

I sit in an observation room located just above the lunar surface. A fitting spot to wallow in my emotions. The desolate surface of the moon matches my how I feel... isolated and hopeless. Every goal I've spent my life working towards is now as dead as the rocky surface before me. My career with the CIA is over. Hell, I'm number one on their top Most Wanted list. If they catch me now, they'll lock me up and torture me for information just like they my dad.

It all happened so fast. He was already dead by the time I found out the agency had erroneously come to the conclusion that I was collaborating with Naomi and Tom. Those bastards... I was only doing my job, collecting information on alien activities.

My job... A repugnant taste fills my mouth. Some great investigator I am to not even pick up on the fact that my girlfriend was flying around in an abandoned spaceship in her spare time with Tom. It's an embarrassment I'll never live down. Naomi had to literally abduct me for me to get it.

I know... I shouldn't... but I replay the recording of my father's interrogation and death again. Ana took it from the CIA files. It's awful and the images of his torment bring a dark rage. I wipe away the few tears that defy my efforts to hold them back, and my mood continues to decay into a murderous state. The men responsible for Dad's death still haven't paid for what they've done. Well... That's not entirely true. The man that gave the orders for his interrogation is dead, not by my hand, but I was with him when it happened. Ana shot a laser through his brain that day in the park when the CIA tried to capture me. A shiver climbs my spine at the memory of his head exploding right in front of me. The rest of dad's torturers have gotten off scot-free... so far. It's time to fix that. I want to look each of them in the eye before I kill them so they know it's me doing it.

A noise behind me gets my attention and I turn to see the door open with Naomi standing at the entrance. She's dressed in a sexy dress made of shear, lavender fabric that hangs off one shoulder and somehow seems to be blowing in a breeze even though there is none. A sharp contrast to my drab blouse and plain skirt. She's wearing makeup also, with her Asian features set off by just the right shade of lipstick and eyeliner.

I still can't believe I was in love with a robot. "Nice dress, how does it move like that?"

She shrugs, "Thanks. It's a special effect built into the material."

She looks like she's dressed for seduction, makes me wonder why she's here. "Do you need something?"

She takes a step into the room, her face demure and passive. "I want to help you."

I hate when she gives that lost puppy look. "Help me? Help me with what?"

"Get revenge on your father's killers of course."

My fingers press to my temples as if to push out the nanobots Ana put in there. How can I live like this? Those bots read my every thought, my every emotion, and pass that information to Ana. I feel so naked.

Naomi frowns. "I still don't understand why humans are so freaked out about a direct connection from your brain to the computer. It's just a much more efficient version of your iPhone."

I look at her like she's crazy. "How the hell is it like a phone?"

She comes and sits next to me, but I pull away. I'm still struggling with understanding exactly what the hell she is and am not ready for her to be too close.

She frowns at my withdrawal. "I don't bite."

She use to bite, in my tender places... The memory of which makes me feel... odd, now that I know what she is. I move away from her a tad more.

She rolls her eyes. "Whatever... You use your phone to interact with computers on the internet right?

"Sure... But it's not the same. My phone is not reading my mind."

She shakes her head like one would when trying to teach a stubborn child. "Given time, some day in the future, it will. Just like when the Travelers made Ana to take their instructions and feed them to the computer in the best way possible, directly from their thoughts. She's only a computer interface, a touch-screen in your mind. You're the one that's imagining her as a personification of some kind of monster. That's as absurd as thinking your phone is trying to control you when you use it to give directions while you drive. Ana's only purpose is to help you interact with the computer. That's all."

I look deep into her beautiful, brown eyes in search of the truth. If she were human, I'd be able to find physiological signs to help tell if she's lying. But she's not human. "And what about you? What exactly are you?"

Her lips become thin lips and her look serious as she gazes out the window. The landscape outside is motionless and quiet in a way that no place on Earth could be. "I've been asking myself that question for a long time now." She turns back to me. "At first, I was a guide for new users, to teach them in a more personal way about Ana and the computer. But... I feel like... I've grown well beyond that. Even if I mostly feel lonely these days with no real purpose now that you and Tom don't trust me."

I start to reach for her but stop short. "Why do you want to help me?"

Her face darkens. "The CIA... They're waiting for you. It's a trap."

Suddenly, I'm all business. "Trap? What are you talking about?"

"Ana didn't want me to interfere... but... you might get hurt, or maybe killed, if I don't help."

"Naomi. What are you taking about?"

She sighs heavily. "The CIA expects you to go after the men who interrogated your dad when he died. They're using them as bait." A sad grin comes to her lips. "Just because they're staying off-line, and not using cell phones, they assume Ana can't track what they're doing. You're former employers are so stupid. Honestly, I don't know how you could stand working for them."

It's my turn for a sad smile. "Well, they are a little dense at times." The smile is short lived and is replaced with a look of harsh purpose. "What are they up too?"

"They're leaving two of them out in the open with squads ready to jump you if you show up." She tentatively puts her hand on mine. "Which, of course, I'm not going to let happen. Anyway... they've got the head guy, you know, the one that ran the interrogation, underground at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. Ana says you know the place because you were based there once."

She must be talking about Craig White. If they stashed him at Nellis, it's a problem. That's one of the biggest air force bases in the world, and it just happens to be the headquarters for the Alien Tactical Response Team. Not only is the Tactical Response HQ one of the most heavily guarded and secret places in the world, it's completely off-line. You can search the world's computers forever and never find any mention of it. My mood drops like rock in a bucket of water. "He's one lucky, Son-of-a-bitch, because it's going to be hard as hell to get to him at that base."

Naomi eyebrows arch up. "No. He's not really lucky. They're keeping him locked up so they can trade him to you for information or corporation. He's a sacrificial lamb.

"Oh..." That's cold. But I'm not surprised. The stakes are high in this game, very high.