It was too perfect a day for me to work on any big projects. The temperature outside was nice and comfortable. Light, fluffy clouds chased each other across the skies, and a light breeze filled the air.
After finishing the farm chores, I put a few snacks in a bag and walked out into one of the fields that were currently barren of livestock. Tomorrow, I'd move the sheep into this pasture, but for now, it was where I was planning on spending the day.
I took a sip of water from my canteen before tossing it to the ground and collapsing onto the grassy knoll that was the best feature of this pasture.
The grass was comfortable, and this field hadn't had any animals on it for the last few months, so there weren't any surprises or awful smells around me as I watched the clouds drift by.
"Hey, Sage," I smiled as one of the twins came up and nuzzled my hand, lying beside me. "Where's your sister, huh?"
The Australian Shepherd raised her head above my head, and I felt Thyme's paw rest on my shoulder as she begged for pets.
"Spoiled rotten," I smiled, pulling both dogs into my lap and sitting up. "You hear that?" I scratched both dogs behind their ears and the scruff around their neck. "You're both spoiled rotten."
I played with them for a few minutes before lying down and closing my eyes. The breeze cooled off the moderate heat from New Avalon's star. I opened them back up and gently stroked the dog's soft fur, their tails thumping the ground beside me.
"What do you two think about getting more help around here?" I asked. "The Flock's getting pretty big. We could get you some little brothers and sisters to help out."
The Twins simply licked and nudged my hands, seeking more pets.
"Yeah," I replied. "We'll get some more help around here."
I stared at the clouds for a few more minutes before yawning and drifting off to sleep. Sometimes, it's just too perfect of a day to do anything.
"What do you have for me, Karl?" Melissa stepped into his office. "There's a young woman that looks like my daughter sitting in a cell wondering why her mother just had her imprisoned."
"We finished interrogating her security detail last night," Karl rubbed at his eyes, exhausted. "Melissa, we already knew Comstar was up to no good when MIIO tracked the initial kidnapping. But after interrogating, we tracked down the handlers for this group and the next few cells based in or around the Triad. The ones that survived are being interrogated now."
Karl sighed and looked the Archon in the eyes.
"We barely recovered any documents, so we won't be able to verify everything. But if what we did recover is correct, then we have something extra to deal with."
"If, and I stress if. The few documents we recovered partially intact are even partially accurate. The young woman currently sedated and in a cell is Katherine Steiner-Davion. Just not the one that we knew previously. She isn't like Hanse's doppelganger, where they kidnapped a random Davion and surgically altered him. She's a complete clone. The only surgical manipulation we could find was fingerprint matching."
"Then what you're saying is," Melissa collapsed onto the couch in Karl's office.
"She's your daughter. Comstar must have spent a long time gathering information on memories to implant them as successfully as they did."
Karl sighed before continuing.
"All of our research into deep cover agents like this has been theoretical. So, we're operating based on what we've found and pulled out of the Comstar agents. I recommend we tell her the truth. Explain everything and start deprogramming her similarly to how we MIIO did with Hanse's doppelganger."
"You're certain?" Melissa asked.
"Not one hundred percent," Karl shook his head. "But reasonably convinced that if MIIO hadn't looked into some obscure intel, we'd have never found this out."
"Do it," Melissa stood up and straightened her suit. "Either way, she'll have to be deprogrammed. We should start this now rather than when it's too late. I'll send a message to Hanse via Black Box. Given the travel time and the command circuit they were authorized to use. The teams should be arriving on New Avalon shortly."
"Yes, ma'am," Karl replied. "I'll have people start working on it right away."
"Get some rest, Karl," Mellisa smiled a bit. "There'll still be work to do tomorrow. Someone else can do the paperwork and follow up on this. I don't want you keeling over of a heart attack or something while we're dealing with this two-pronged attack."
"Just let me make sure that the people who work on this are people I trust," The man replied. "We had breaches in our security. Now, we must plug them and pray that we don't open up more holes in the process."
The Red Lightning shuddered as it began breaching New Avalon's atmosphere. The Seeker class dropship headed straight for the private landing pad for the Davion Palace complex.
"Luke," Katherine asked the man beside her as something popped into her head. "Who is watching the bakery while you're here?"
"Closed it down while I'm out," Luke replied. "Mark has plenty of work to do on the farm while I'm gone. He could easily run it. But I figured I'd give him a break. He's been putting off finishing some of the rebuilds he needs to do around the farm, and this way, it kicks him into gear."
"He had finished the house when I left," Katherine rested her head against the chair. "Was there that much starting to break down?"
"He had at least one fence that broke not three weeks after you left," Luke chuckled. "He spent a whole day chasing down the livestock that escaped. He probably had to rebuild the whole fence. I don't know much about the rest of the farm. But I know that fencing is hard work."
The two went silent as the dropship finally set down on the pad, the fusion engines slowly shutting down.
"Ma'am, sir," Gold two stepped into the room. "We have clearance to enter the Mountain, and I'm still not relieved of my duties. So I'll be escorting you through until I hear otherwise."
Gold Two began to lead them out to the dropship's vehicle bay when Katherine was ambushed.
A blond head of hair tucked into Katherine's side, and Hanse grinned as he stepped forward and pulled both of his daughters in for a hug.
"You're home," Yvonne cried into her older sister's side.
"And you're safe," Hanse tucked his chin over Katherine's hair and held her as she began to sob quietly into his chest. "I'm here, Yvonne's here, and Arthur will be here in a few weeks."
Katherine didn't speak. She simply let the tears flow as Hanse slowly calmed his daughters down. His voice was gentle and muffled through her hair, but Katherine slowly began to sniffle and eventually stopped crying.
"Let's get you inside the Mountain, Kat," Hanse smiled as he wiped a few tears of his own away. "There will be plenty of time to talk about everything."
He led Yvonne and Katherine to the APC and then turned to Luke and Gold Two.
"I want you present for the debriefing," Hanse instructed. "You'll stay in the Palace tonight, and we'll sort out anything else tomorrow."