One Day on Mars

Most likely, Allison agreed. They had better get out of here within the next ten minutes because all hell is about to rain down on this city. Same goes for us by the way.

Right. I've got an idea. Are these three suits broadcasting? Nancy highlighted the child and the two near it.

Yes, standard wireless with no encryption around twelve gigahertz, Allison replied.

Open the channel.

Open.

'. . . Kira . . . Kira . . . where are you?' a female child voice repeated.

' . . . Lelandra! WHERE ARE YOU? Come here to your mother right now!'

'. . . Listen to your mother, sweetie! Come on, we have got to go!'

'. . . But we can't leave Kira, Daddy!' the little girl said.

Any idea what Kira might be, Allison?

I'm scanning . . . Allison ran the e-suit's sensors across the spectrum for any type of signature in the local area around the girl. There were several low-level controller systems in household appliances and a few entertainment systems that the electromagnetic pulse from the nuke had not disrupted.

There! An AIK broadcasting spread spectrum center pulse at two three three six megahertz! Allison highlighted a region behind several large storage canisters stacked at the edge of a garage dome about ten meters from the little girl. Has to be what she is looking for.

Great work, Allison. Got it. Can you soothe the thing?

Already on it. Allison communicated code to the low-level artificial intelligence that would put it in a calm state.

Nancy leapt from the top of the dome she had taken perch on in a high sweeping arch toward the 'AI Kitty' or AIK. In four quick bounds she landed atop the storage canisters beside the little mechanical kitten and grabbed it before it had a chance to run off. Then she stroked it gently with her gloved hand and then bounced quietly about thirty meters to the west of the child.

'Hello? Hellooo!' Nancy broadcast on the open channel in her trained Martian accent. From the abrupt motion changes of the three tracks she was calling to she was certain she had startled them. 'Is anybody there?' Nancy stepped onto the street behind the little girl where there was just enough light for the child to see her and her artificial-intelligence kitten. Nancy could feel the little AIK purring in her grip.

'Kira!' The little girl ran to Nancy, taking the AIK and hugging it to her.

This is gonna work. List the common Separatist last names for me.

Allison began scrolling a list of names in Nancy's mind until Nancy stopped her.

That one will do nicely, Allison. Open the backstory files. She ordered the AIC. A complex and detailed life story had been developed for the mission that had been kept classified even from her until it was time to implement the cover. It was an ideal way to maintain an undercover identity—the fewer who knew the cover, the fewer who could blow it. There, that is a good one. I'll use it. Set the emotional tags in the story to stimulate my hypothalamus accordingly.

'Is this your kitty?' Nancy knelt beside the little girl and looked into her face. 'Where are your parents?'

'Kira! I thought you were gone. Don't run off like that again! You could have missed the train!' the little girl scolded her kitty. The little red mechanical kitten purred and nuzzled the little girl with her neck. From just looking and holding the cat there was no way to tell that it wasn't real.

'Hello, whoever you are, grab my daughter please and tell me what street you are on,' the mother's voice exclaimed.

'Hi, we are on . . . ' Nancy ran through the map in her mind quickly. 'Uh, looks like the corner of Tholus and Valley.'

'Great! I'm almost there,' the girl's father replied over the wireless.

'Me too!' her mother said.

Nancy reached over and patted the little girl on the top of her helmet and smiled at her.

'What's your name?' the child asked.

'Oh, I'm Kira Shavi. And you are?' Nancy began sinking herself into her cover persona. She emphasized the pronunciation of Shavi as 'Shaaa-VEE' with similarities to the pronunciation of Elle Ahmi apparent.

'My name is Lelandra but you can call me Lela and this is Kira. Wow, you have the same name as my kitty.'

'Isn't that funny?' Nancy laughed with Lelandra. The two adults rounded different street corners from opposite directions and bounced toward them. The larger of the two, whom Nancy assumed was the father grabbed ,his daughter and held her to him.

'Don't ever run off from us like that again, you hear me! You scared us to death!'

Nancy, five minutes.

Right!

The parents continued to scold their daughter, paying little notice to Nancy. Nancy had Allison run the suit's scanners on the three. For the most part they were common low-end e-suits that intel had suggested most of the Separatists on the Reservation wore.