IMPALA (Farside Saga: Book One)

"You're still in turmoil." Frankie said as he stepped back.

"Relax man, it was 8yrs ago. Im here, im alive. You've been promoted to captain and given the Impala and you take off in 3 days. Your sister and niece will be on base. I've told you everything i know about Them as far as i could, so what's got you?" he continued as he walked around to the bench and started piecing some of the equipment together.

"Just thinking about my wife and son." was Jason's reply.

Frankie finished at the bench and walked back towards Jason with the device in hand.

"Not to sound insensitive, but i keep forgetting about that.....look, im not suppose to tell you this so please don't question me on it...but you'll be with them again...not the way you expect but you'll see them. Anyway, here..." Frankie said as he handed Jason the device.

Curious, he looked at Frankie as he walked around the corner out of site, wanting to ask about his family, but instead....

"What is this?" he yelled as he studied the slender silver strip of metal.

"It's a watch....sorta. Just put it on, you'll figure it out." Frankie yelled back just before there was a bright flash of blue light and the soft whoosh of wind as Jason felt the slight pull of his hairs.

"Frankie......" Jason called out as he headed towards the corner.

He came around to an empty hallway with no Frankie in sight. Not expecting an answer, he called out once more before returning his thoughts to the strip of metal still in his hand. He couldn't see how it could be a watch since it didn't budge when he tried to bend it, but it seemed to meld to his skin when he placed it on his wrist giving it the appearance of having a silver stripe around his wrist. A digital display of the time flashed across the surface before a voice began to speak.

"Sorry about having to dip on you like that but i had to go back. There's still so much i have to learn and prepare for. You'll see me again....hopefully, but in the meantime, this is my gift to you. It has a few integrations of my abilities. It reads your neuro impulses and acts accordingly so be careful with your thoughts. There's an optical display of all the instructions and verbal commands that's activated along your line of vision so only you can see. You can also connect and control any operating system that doesn't have a level 6 security firewall via wireless access. Everything you need is in the commands. Good luck buddy!! Oh yeah, you concentrate too much on contingencies instead of just going in for the kill when you see the opening. That's how i keep beating you in chess. Trust your pawns. Keep that in mind. It'll come in handy later." the voice ended.

Just then a series of jarbled program codes scrolled across his vision finally ending in a simple text:

SYSTEM INTEGRATED

PROGRAM 1 INITIATED

PROGRAM 2 START UP

IN 10...9...8

At the end of the count down, the silver strip glowed bright blue, giving his arm a slight tingly sensation that spread throughout his body. After a few seconds, the light faded away and the sensation left. He didn't see or feel any physical changes but he knew something about him was different. A new set of texts appeared:

PROGRAM 2 INTERGRATED:

WELCOME JASON DODGE. I AM B.I.A.N.C.A. BIO INTELLIGENCE AND NANO-NETWORK CONTROL ASSEMBLEX. I AM YOUR PERSONAL ASSISTANT GUARD AND GUIDE DURING THIS ENDEAVOR. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SWITCH TO VOICE OR CONTINUE WITH TEXT? I CAN SENSE YOUR NEURO ACTIVITY AND READ YOUR FOREMOST THOUGHTS SO THAT YOU DONT HAVE TO VERBALLY SPEAK A COMMAND.

Jason thought about it for a quick second and mentally allowed the voice switch over. After about 10 minutes of getting acquainted with his new friend, he finally left the old house for the last time, leaving the whole neighborhood completely empty.

He drove to the inner part of the city towards his sister's house. He pulled into the driveway just as the garage door opened and his niece ran out screaming "Uncle J" as she came to the front passenger door fumbling with the handle before she finally got it opened. Jason watched in amused horror as she literally ran across the leather seats tripping over the center counsel and landing on her knees into his lap hugging him tightly. Wincing from the non-existing pain that could've been a whole lot worse had he not braced for the impact, he gently picked her small frame up and playfully tossed her into the back seat. This brought out a series of laughs and giggles as she straightened up and buckled herself in the middle seat.

"I see we're going to have to work on our reaction to bodily threats....she almost got hurt if i hadn't sensed your excitement." Bianca said in his ear, relieved she didn't have to execute any offensive maneuvers.

Instead, she programmed the nanites to reinforce his leg muscles to absorb the sudden impact. In his little panic, Jason had already completely forgotten about Bianca and therefore causing him to jump up hitting his head on the ceiling making his niece laugh even harder. He rubbed the top of his head, altho he felt no pain, giving his niece a playful mean look as she doubled over falling to the side pointing at him laughing uncontrollably.

"And we are definitely gonna have to work on your entry. Next time can you beep or something so i know its you talking to me, especially if its other people around?" he mentally projected as he looked and saw his sister coming out the garage dragging two big suitcases and carrying two hand bags, a purse, and a bookbag strapped across her shoulders.

"Duely noted." Bianca responded after a soft ping as Jason got out the car to help his sister.

"You don't have to do it every time, just after....say about 5 or 6 minutes of inactivity." he thought, as he walked up and grabbed the suitcase handles.

"Notes corrected."

"What's up sis?" he said playfully at the same time he picked her up and over his shoulder, handbags and all.

Catching her completely off guard with the move, she let out short yelp as she was suddenly airborne and now laying like a jacket across her brother's shoulder. She could hear her daughter's muffled laughter inside the car at her as she playfully pounded his back and trying to keep her and the bags from falling.

"Put me down....boy you...play to much!!" she said between laughing swings.

"Cant....in a rush....already late!!" he said jokingly as he quickly walked to the trunk of his car, then put all items down. A soft ping then,

"I increased your muscle strength by 25% and your agility 7% for that little maneuver." Bianca said in response to his thoughts as to how he did all that so easily.

"Humph....we're going to get along just fine" he thought with a new fondness for his gift as he fished around in his pocket for his keys, then realized they're still in the car. He was about to walk and get them when the trunk popped open.

"I have also gained control of your vehicle. I can drive if you want to relax for the trip." Bianca said as he started putting the luggage in the trunk.

After a few playful punches and a snappy remark that he barely payed attention to, his sister walked around and got in the car. He thought about the day and a half trip to Nevada, then closed the trunk thinking,

"Naw im good. I like the feel of the road when im driving, but when i start getting sleepy you can take over then."

"Acknowledged." Bianca replied.

He got in the driver seat and backed the car out the driveway as they began their trip. He looked in the rearview to his niece playing a game on her lumitablet, then smiled. He reached over, open the glove box and was trying to shift through the contents when a small red box with a pink bow fell out onto his sister's lap.

"Aah, there it is." he said as he closed the glovebox.

Michelle, being stirred out of deep thought, lifted the box and looked at Jason curiously. He pointed his thumb to the back with a smile. She looked in aww as she turned and handed Stacie the gift. Jason mentally told Bianca to be prepared to take over for a second then,

"You might want to cover your ears." he said to his sister as she straightened up in her seat.

Looking at him confused, she unsurely covered her ears watching Jason do the same just as a piercing scream came from the back causing her to apply needed pressure and cringe at the deafening high pitched screech.

"Thank you mommy...i love it and im never gonna take it off." Stacie screamed in the back.

Curiosity took over and Michelle turned in her seat to see a very excited Stacie clasping the buckle to a small silver necklace around her neck. The necklace held a decorative red white and pink dog tag in the shape of the Hello Kitty logo. On the back,

TO A SPECIAL LITTLE KITTY

PURR PURR

LITTLE KITTY

PURR PURR

LOVE ALWAYS

MOMMY

Seeing this, Michelle shed a small tear as she reached over and hugged Jason.

"Thank you!!" she whispered in his ear. He gently grabbed and squeezed her hand as she released her grip and gave her a reassuring smile before returning his attention back to the road as he maneuvered on to the highway.

"How you holding up, captain?" Michelle asked, putting emphasis on captain, followed by a not so screechy "Congratulatioooonssh" from the back seat. Jason grinned as he glanced in the rearview then at Michelle.

"Well.... you know, new designs or schematics to go over, new tests to run, new toys to play with..." he said, Bianca chuckling in his ear at the inside joke. "....but other than that, im doing pretty good. Nervous as hell about going up in a few days but nothing serious. How about you? Heard you got a new toy to play with too." he said, throwing the subject back to her.

"His name is Chaarrles!!" Stacie said in the back before breaking out in a fit of giggles.

The giggles turned to hysterical laughter when Michelle reached back and tickled her into submission before straightening back up. Stacie reached in the side compartment and pulled out a pair of earbuds then plugged them in the rear center counsel. She pushed a button next to the jack then put the earpieces in her ear. The small tv in the back of Jason's headrest came to life instantly picking up satellite feeds. Jason mentally told Bianca if she could do it to intercept the car's receiver and broadcast nothing but Hello Kitty programs. Bianca complied and Stacie was happy as can be as she laid down to watch the show absentmindedly playing with the necklace. That should hold her for a while he thought to himself.

"Are we holding her prisoner?" Bianca asked curiously.

Jason almost laughed out loud but mentally responded,

"We'll talk about this a little later but no...we're not holding her prisoner. Just a figure of speech. And can you kinda be quiet for a second? Don't want my sister to think im crazy all of a sudden." he said.

He saw his sister looking at him and thought about the way she became the "psychologist" after he got the news of his wife 4yrs ago and how she tried to console him when he got fired from N.S.A. after the accident. It was kinda what drove him to the brink of suicide. Not to say she did it hurtfully or intentional but in her determined quest to make him feel better, only made him feel worse.

"Figure of speech..." there was a slight pause then

"Aah, got you, dialect modified. Shuting down til further needed."

"Are you sure you ok?" Michelle asked as she reached up rubbing his head.

"Im fine im fine..." he said as he playfully moved her hand as he chuckled, giving her a story about deja vue and zoning out.

They continued their trip uneventful with the exception of being ran over by an automated hover truck. It was then Jason realized how vital Bianca was to him and how she fit into his life. He also had to tell Michelle about Bianca so as to calm her down after the incident.

They were 6 miles out from base when Jason caught a flat and the auto-inflate physically malfunctioned. A quick fix, even quicker than fixing the flat itself since it only took an inhanced knuckle punch to the air valve knocking the gunk from the protective coating used to protect the part during shipping. With the valve now clear, the tire automatically started to inflate. He had Bianca test the other 3 tires with no problems as Jason climbed out from under the car. He didn't realize he wasn't far enough on the shoulder so his legs were halfway in the street when the truck rode past. The truck's stabilizers sucked him out and drug him down the road a ways before tossing him back on to the shoulders then pulling over and shutting down a few yards up further. Michelle watched in horror as the car engaged and accelerated to keep up. They pulled up just as Jason rolled to a stop. Michelle jumped out the car and ran to him dropping to her knees scuffing her jeans. She rolled him over as he reached up grabbing his aching brused head.

"Im alright im alright....just give me a second" he said groggily as he tried to roll to his side unsuccessfully. A set of codes scrambled across his vision before a soft ping.

"Your body is still 45% damaged but you will live. Continuing repair process...this may hurt at some points but i will compensate for the pain since you are now concious." Bianca said as she programmed the nanites to finish repairing the damaged organs and bones.

Michelle jumped back in horror, falling on her rear as Jason's awkwardly bent foot twisted back in place and his two broken ribs began popping in place. The bruises on his head began healing then disappeared as he reached out to his sister.

"It's ok, ill explain later" he said through gritted teeth trying to calm his sister as she stared teary eyed at the scene covering her mouth to keep from screaming.

After a few minutes, Jason stood up and dusted his tattered clothing before giving up. He looked up and saw the road had activated the safety protocols as the vehicles where maneuvering around the crash beacons surrounding both Jason's car and the hover truck. A slight whine and a ruffle of wind came from above followed by a bright but soft light as the officer lowered the hoverbike to the ground. Once the light was off, Jason could see the red and blue lights of the ambulance and fire truck approaching from up ahead as the officer climbed off the bike.

"Are you ok? Can you explain what happened?" the officer asked concernedly barely getting his helmet off and noticing Jason's appearance.

"Do you need medical attention?"

"Im fine...." Jason said as he held up his hand. "....just had a round with the autotruck, I got lucky and won this one but i don't think I can handle a rematch." he finished, pointing his finger at the truck chuckling.

In 2019, logistic companies, after many disputes, complaints, and strikes, finally ended on a solution. Truck drivers around the world traded the wheel for power tools. Trucks became automated and the drivers became mechanics with the trucks doing the work for them. Learning the new systems and gaining certifications, they are to maintain and are held responsible to their assigned trucks as if they drove it themselves. The truck in particular, along with the rest, was equipped with video feed back that would've been used in the investigation unless victim refuse to press charges and not hold company accountable. Jason knew their would be questions he couldn't answer, now knowing how Frankie felt, so he refused, explaining that he was lucky enough to catch the side rail to and keep from going under.

The sudden out take of oxygen caused him to blackout so Jason was really unaware that he was pulled all the way into the trucks ion field. The ion field is really more dangerous to living organisms than non organic materials so he didn't know that he was deatomized down to the mucus membrane almost exposing his inner organs. The force from the thrusters is what tore his clothes exposing his skin. The exposed skin was breaking down faster than Bianca could compensate. The only way she could save him and save herself the extra work later was to slow the trucks momentum in order to reduce the ion field and hope the truck's landing rods was high enough not to crush him. The truck had too many systems and firewalls to break through in time so she spasmed his leg into the thruster catching his foot in the turbine. Bianca picked up on the small flaw in the truck's safety protocols as they finally kicked in. It hadn't realized it even grabbed him and would've just kept going. The thruster went out causing the truck to droop a little to the left before the secondary and safety protocols kicked in. The sudden yank of his pants leg threw him out from under, snapping his ankle in the process, as the truck pulled over and shut down. As soon as Jason cleared the ion field, the over compensation of nanites quickly healed his body and was a little over half finished when he woke up to his sister rolling him over.

"Sir, no offense but luck aint got nothing to do with that!" the officer said as he looked at Jason in amazement.

After dealing with the rescue response team and other officers, some recognizing him from the news reports, asking for autographs and wishing him good luck, he was finally able to change clothes and was released to continue his journey. The whole time Stacie was in the back seat curled up sleep. He smiled as he straightened up in his seat before pulling out from behind the ambulance. He looked at his sister out the corner of his eye already expecting her reaction.

"What the hell was that?" she asked almost hysterically as she stared at him.

Exhaling deeply, he continued the trip explaining about Frankie and Bianca. Finally arriving at Schoverville International Space Camp, they headed to the base operations tower. Arriving there, Jason got out and walked to the trunk, shuffled around, and pulled out his one suitcase, then walked around to the passenger side. He hugged his sister through the window as she wished him luck, then twittled his fingers playfully at Stacie in the backseat as she also sadly wished him luck. He stood up mentally telling Bianca to take them to the station housing district. He watched as the car engaged and accelerated around the bend towards the houses. In the background, Jason could see the shuttle that would take him to the Impala in a day and a half. He looked up, following the massive beam of light, and imagined he could see the Station that's housing the jumpship to the Impala in it's geosynchronous orbit above the N. S. A. headquarters until he realized he could see it, well maybe not that good but enough to recognize the station's jack-shaped outline.

"Magnification max at 143x, atmospheric density compensation at 61%.... I can switch to infrared if you'd like to see it in more detail." Bianca responded.

"No need." he thought as he headed towards the entry doors. Although he only knew the station's docking bay blueprints, he knew every little detail about his ship already, every armament, every window, every chair, table, fork, spoon, and every hatch. He could even tell you exactly where every micro vent is where the nanite sheilding is ejected from. Even things that's not in the schematics. What he didn't know, however, was how he was going to use that knowledge against an unknown threat until that threat came, which according to Frankie.....soon.

"Destiny awaits!!" he exhaled as he walked through the outer doors.