Book 2

“You were bloody reckless to authorize the assault,” Gregori, military commander, said to Zoe as she stood with the other team leaders from the Australian mission. “You should have tagged the ship with a locator and waited for backup.” The older man wiped his hand over his face. “Also, do you have any idea the grief I would have received from Elaine, Rene and Hayden?”

Zoe and the other team leaders chuckled a little, the stress easing a little. “I do apologise Gergori,” Zoe said. “We had a unique combination of Talents with Tyson and Maddison that I felt were capable of potentially dealing with the Jumino by themselves. Outfitted with our tech and the support from our teams, we were able to negate any casualties with the twins assistance.”

“I’m in agreement Zoe, I just have to give you a dressing down for not coming to me with the plan first.” He sighed and pushed a tablet aside, the mission reports visible. "You all did well, you did us all proud. Some tweaking of the teams and I'm sure we will have much greater efficiency. I'll talk to each of you separately later, but, as of now, you and your teams have a week leave, with benefits."

"Awesome!" Jolli said, beaming along with the others.

"Everyone dismissed," he said, waving them away. "Mr. Denver, stay back a moment."

"Sir," Lauchlan said, nodding as the others left, closing the door behind them. "How can I help?"

Gergori waved his hand again. "Kalinda Junghanel. Your thoughts on her leadership potential."

Locky blinked a couple of times, thinking over his answer. "I see Kally's potential, as I suspect you do. She's sweet, thoughtful, cool-headed and quick to make judgements. She is a great asset that I would hate to lose in my team, but I suspect that she will make my leadership look like an interns."

"Good. I'm promoting her to your second."

Locky grinned again. "Can I tell her the news?"

"Certainly. Now, you go and enjoy yourself with the others."

"Sir," Locky replied, having happy news to deliver.

~

"I'm what?" Kally asked as the others around her beamed at her.

"You heard me Kally," Locky said, handing her a glass with a small amount of amber liquid in the bottom. "Three cheers for Kally!"

Cheering echoed around the large mess hall as most of the personnel from the mission celebrated a triumphant return. Noticeably missing were Zoe, Tyson and Maddison.

~

"Hayden?" Zoe called as she opened the door to their shared rooms. Maison had already confirmed his presence, as he had been on comms shift when they'd arrived and, just like her, had only just finished up his duties.

"Mon amour," he replied, coming out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a tea towel. "You brought guests. Excellent." He warmly shook Tyson and Maddison's hands. "Please, come in. It's just us tonight, Naomi thought to give us space."

"She's a darling," Zoe replied, waving the twins over to the dining table, currently cleared of any of the usual debris. "Smells good."

"Tastes good too. I just need to put garlic bread in and that'll only take a few minutes. Have you two had spaghetti bolognese?"

"Only from cans," Tyson replied, mesmerized by the enticing smell.

"This is Zoe's nonna's recipe, which is my favourite. Won't be long," Hayden finished, walking back into the kitchen.

The pair had showered and received new clothing, but had kept their swords and belts. Zoe thought they made a great pair in black denim pants and white shirts.

"How's the noise?" Zoe asked Tyson.

He smiled faintly and held up a small flask. "I don't enjoy intoxication, but right now, a little alcohol helps to numb the senses, making it tolerable. And don't worry, Maddison will keep me from making a mess of myself."

Nodding in reply, Zoe turned and looked at a screen just over her shoulder. "Maison, music please, smooth jazz, low volume."

A moment later a mellow saxophone started playing, the music seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere. "Maison is like Avi?" Maddison asked.

"Yes, though tied to my residence. Maison has been duplicated in the residences of those who want it. The system isn't as advanced as Avi, but it doesn't need to be."

"Talking about residences," Tyson said, "you mentioned something about housing for us?"

"Yes, tomorrow I will get you rooms. Would you prefer to be in a nearby, small town?"

"Gods yes," he replied, taking another mouthful from his flask. "I get why you like it here, but it's so loud for me." He waved at the screen where musical notes were flowing over the screen. "The music is helping though."

Hayden returned with a few heat proof mats, four glasses and a bottle. After setting the glasses and mats down, he poured a small amount in everyone's glass, doubling what was in Tyson's. The smell of sweet alcohol wafted up. "Peach schnapps, made from local produce. Please enjoy."

Placing to bottle down, Hayden returned to the kitchen, bringing back pots and bowls. The twins stared at the food on offer, unsure where to begin. Pasta, bolognese, garlic bread and vegetables were on offer, their aroma making the twins mouths water. "Help yourself," Zoe said, pushing the food towards them.

~

Zoe had gone back to Gregori after the initial meeting that afternoon. "You were fortunate to meet the twins," he said to her as soon as she entered the room. "This mission did highlight a couple of things for me."

"Sir?"

"You either need to have more medical training or more personnel with you. I suspect the latter will be easier to accomplish."

"Can I choose who comes with me?"

"Yes, though I get final approval, as normal."

"Thank you sir."

"I'm only insisting because of what happened. Otherwise, you're an exceptional agent for the Community. The decision for you to go alone was over my head. At least it didn't prove fatal. I'll have team member files sent to you this week. Look over them, choose your team, I'm sure something will come along soon enough."

~

The twins had never had such wonderfully full and warm bellies, comfortable clothing and a relaxed, peaceful environment. As they sprawled out on Zoe's warm couch, they contemplated their futures.

"Well, when you consider their combined Talents," Hayden was saying, a cup of hot tea in his hands, "they are uniquely suited to situational guarding, like convoys, diplomats, and the like."

"We have to keep them together, they're family," Zoe replied.

"You're basically our family too now Zoe," Maddison added.

Warmth filled her already warm body. Sure, the twins weren't sober, but it was still nice to hear. "First thing we do in the morning is to try and find you somewhere quiet to live, so you don't consume all our alcohol."

Tyson chuckled and raised his empty glass. "This schnapps is amazing though."

"Best not become an alcoholic brother," Maddison patted his knee. Groaning, she stood, dragging her brother up with her. "We best sleep off everything. Yeah, we remember where our temp quarters are, thank you."

Hayden opened the door for them, closing it gently behind them. He turned to find Zoe already with tech in her hands. Chuckling at her, he retired, advising her to try a sleeping pill to help adjust to the jet lag.

"Later, I have an idea," she replied as she picked up the FK suit arm control.

~

"I'm going to have to name you something else now Avi," Zoe said to herself as she swapped the small hard drives over, plugging the one with 'her' and Avi on it into the FK suit arm control. "I'll have to clone you for the buggy."

While the harddrive was unpowered, she felt like part of her had fallen asleep, like she was not completely able to function, almost blind. As soon as the control powered up, she sighed in relief, feeling the FK suit as a new part of her.

~ I was just thinking I'm going to have to rename you Avi. ~

~ May I suggest Phoenix. ~

Zoe felt the logic behind the request. The suit was Chinese, it was a Firebird suit, and in an odd way, Avi was being reborn. ~ I like it, though I may shorten it over time. ~

She felt Phoenix activating all the systems of the suit, the parts of which were next to her in her workshop just off the main garage. It was quiet, as the time was well after midnight, which was pleasant for Zoe, who would have no interruptions while she worked.

~ Sleep is advised. ~

~ I know, I know. Now that I've done this part, I can relax a little. I didn't like being disconnected and now I will rarely have to be. ~ She slipped the arm piece on. It sat comfortably on her forearm, not restricting her in any way, only adding a little weight to that side.

Yawning and stretching, she left her work to return to Hayden and her bed.

~

During the night, Phoenix guided Zoe's subconscious in making improvements to the suit. The system stored the info while it worked on it's own connectivity, hooking into the main system of the Community, leaving backdoors for quicker access in the future.

~

The next day, Zoe helped find Tyson and Maddison a place to live nearby. They settled on a small house that needed fixing up, a few kilometers from the Community base. There was a small settlement there, nothing too much for Tyson to handle day to day. The locals were friendly and happy to help restore the house, thankful that another pair of hands were around to help with general survival tasks.

While it had been mid spring in Australia, it was mid autumn and rapidly cooling in France. The pair had been given a few warmer pieces of clothing and had happily put them on. Zoe warned them it may snow and they had stared at her blankly before she thought about snow. Their eyes widened with the thought of below freezing rain and they shuddered in unison.

"Maybe we'll go back to Australia for a few months," Tyson said, sharing a glance with his sister.

"But you'd miss out on snow fights," Zoe said with a wicked grin. Maddison perked up at the idea, but Tyson didn't, still very sure he wouldn't enjoy the coming winter.

"Let the area grow on you, help where you can and I'm sure you'll fall in love here." She hugged them both. "Now, let's go and see the Mayor."

~

After talking to the Mayor and getting her friends settled in, Zoe set about the tasks she'd set for herself, upgrading the FK suit and adjusting Phoenix's programming. She was already getting used to the arm band and was happy with it and its connectivity, but there were program changes she knew she could do to make it more user friendly.

As she sat in her workshop, people passed by and worked on the vehicles that had returned from their away mission, all just background noise to the distracted technomancer.

Zoe jumped with surprise as a black tuxedo cat jumped up on the desk and dislodged a screwdriver. Smiling warmly, she scratched the cat's head, getting a purr straight away. "Hi Naomi. I missed you too girly. You been good?"

Naomi meowed once and bobbed her head.

Retrieving the tool, Zoe scratched Naomi's ears more. "Good. Did you get to meet the twins or Mathias?" Naomi shook her head. "I think you'd like Mathias. He might even be able to understand your meows. Tyson would be able to read your thoughts too." Naomi hissed softly. "Yeah, ok, you don't want to talk, I understand. Make sure you look after yourself charmante."

Naomi dropped from the desk to Zoe's lap and curled up, a clear indication that she was done talking, but wanted company. Zoe, having known the girl from a young age, knew her better than anyone, and was just happy to have her there, even if her weight sometimes made her legs go to sleep.

~

Mini ploughed into Zoe's body, hugging her tightly. Laughing at the younger girl, Zoe knelt down and hugged her back just as tight.

"You got back three days ago and didn't come to see me!" Mini complained. "I saw grandma, she said you did good."

Zoe laughed. "Ah, your grandma is wonderful kiddo. You weren't too stressed while we were away?"

"Nope! Being able to use Tyson as a signal booster though was epic. Once I meet him I'm sure the boost will be even better."

"I'll let you know when I go see them next so you can come along."

"Thanks! I've gotta go, going to miss my classes. Bye!"

With that, Mini was gone down the hall, leaving behind a smiling Zoe. She felt like she was home again.

~

Pouring through personnel files while reprogramming was happening, Zoe started picking her future base team. She could cover tech and mechanics, the latter at least enough to get a car started. She wanted Maddison for combat and stealth, but other options stood out for her too. Boo, a woman a little younger than herself, had a Talent for blending in and deceiving people perceptions. She was also a decent medic.

A negotiator was next for her to pick and her mind immediately went to Tyson and Felicity. Flick was a good friend who was easy to be around. Her Talent was telekinesis, which, if she grew too bored, she'd use it for pranks, typically moving small things just out of reach. Her best friend Remy, also Talented, was generally able to keep her from boredom. He was good with logistics and combat, his Talent allowing him to create 'bubbles' of various materials, up to a weight limit. He kept various materials on him to create the bubbles from. Bubble seeds he called them.

Mary’s brother Anthony was a decent field medic for someone who wasn’t Talented. He’d taken to healing and was quick with creating new medicines from what was discovered with Talents. It was Tony who had discovered a way of mixing Mary’s healing blood with one of the salves created during the war to make the fast acting salve they now had access to.

Trying to figure out who she wanted was a pain and she was about to shelve the task before a message came in, requesting her presence in the meeting room.

Making her way through the complex, Zoe knocked politely on the door before letting herself in. Gregori, her mother Elaine and the comms operator Sam were all sitting around the table, a holo display showing what looked to be a mostly ruined city. A few buildings were highlighted in different colours.

“How can I help?” she asked, approaching the table.

“We’ve got intel that a car factory in Germany is mostly intact,” Sam said, pointing at one of the larger buildings.

“It seems that it’s time for an expansion push,” Gregori stated. “We’d like you to be leader of the Alpha team, this time with an actual team to start with.” He flashed a look at Elaine.

“Monsieur, you have no objections from me, though Zoe is definitely capable of scouting by herself.”

Gregori turned his attention back to Zoe. "Scout ahead, establish relations with any locals, see about getting the factory up and running and scout a few other locations. The city was once Stuttgart, so it has a lot of factories that were bombed. With Llandilo and Asquith coming over, we should be able to use the city. It is a fair bit outside our usual influence, but support would only be a couple of days out if needed."

Elaine waved her hand in the display and the info transferred to Zoe's arm. "Have you picked your team?" Elaine asked.