"In five days," Admiral Rice added.
"At the soonest," Ayan replied. "Unless they want to bring more ships online to reduce the number of casualties they incur by outgunning us even more, which is a tactic I'd expect from the Order of Eden."
"I listened to the briefing you gave earlier," Admiral Doolth said, standing. "But I'd like my memory refreshed, if you'll tolerate my question: How many full-scale capitol ships don't have enough crewmembers to enter service?"
"Three Aggressor class attack vessels," Ayan answered, mentally noting that only two were in service: The Merciless and the Dauntless. They were destroyer sized but on the scale of a larger battleship. "Four Gallant class carriers with three more finishing on the line today. Those will operate with a skeleton crew and join the fleet with the War Forge," she hesitated to tell them what that really meant, then pushed on. "The skeleton crew consists of a crew of twenty-one. Enough people to pilot the ship, operate the core non-combat systems, and scuttle them if they face a situation where the ship may be taken by an enemy force. Only three members of those crews are combat qualified, the rest are from the construction pool."
There was quiet mumbling amongst the audience members and several holographic images blinked out, indicating that the people behind them weren't watching any longer. "I would like to speak to you after I confer with the Nafalli Tribal leaders," Admiral Doolth said. The two Nafalli Admirals at her sides stood and nodded. "We'll all speak to our people and seek you out later," one added before they sat down.
"Thank you, Admirals," Ayan said. She'd tried to get more Nafalli to become crewmembers aboard ships from the War Forge, they would only require a couple days training to apply the knowledge they already had, but the Academy took the task of recruiting on and resisted her attempts to find Nafalli who would skip the curriculum and transfer directly to Haven Fleet. Going over their heads would cause an uproar, but she decided it was worth it. "These numbers are not new," Ayan said, raising her voice for a moment. "The War Forge is complete, but even this station is only thirty-five percent manned, and its primary task right now is the upgrading and repair of existing allied ships. This station is capable of more, and we're still manufacturing vessels using lines that aren't needed, but that's partially because we have an excess of resources. From my position, I am succeeding at exceeding demand, but failing dismally because our production has been too high at its lowest capacity. Find me crews who can skip a few night's sleep to learn how to work on these ships and I'll build you a fleet that can change the outcome of the simulation we examined today. Otherwise, all the extra ships I'm building will only be good for one thing," Ayan took a moment to calm down, realizing that she had begun to yell.
"They'll be good in an evacuation," Admiral Rice said, finally sitting down. "What about dedicating a large manufacturing line to making parts and sub-segments for Freeground Alpha?"
"They would be useful if we had the manpower to install them. Admiral Trent won't allow robotic assistance anywhere near the station, however, so he's short-handed."
"I won't let a machine that's hackable near the station, let alone an army of machines," Admiral Trent said, half standing. "I'm not willing to discuss this matter further, not here." He sat back down.
"Then Freeground Alpha won't be fully functional for months," Ayan told him. "I could manufacture tons of hardware a day, but it'll clog up the station's storage trains while we wait for your people to pick it up. I'd like to remind you that the robots that assist with manufacturing in the War Forge and our other plants all have security and safety measures that haven't been breached in thousands of simulations. None of them have the kind of emotional intelligences that were used against us by the Holocaust Virus, either, so there is no risk unless you have someone on your staff who is working for the other side."
"You're saying I'm paranoid and that I have untrustworthy people aboard now?" Admiral Trent said, his voice raising defensively as he surged to his feet.
"No, just making sure I have your attention. Please, take your seat," Ayan said firmly. She was relieved when he did so, staring at her with a stormy expression all the while. "Solving our manpower problems, communication, collaboration on strategies that take the reality of our situation into account and making sure that we are ready to act rapidly, effectively are critical right now, and I don't see the Admiralty moving fast enough, or thinking realistically enough. Three hours and three minutes. That's how long it would take for our worst enemies to end us. We have to be better at our jobs, and there's no room for pride. That's the end of my part of the briefing," Ayan said. "There are important details I didn't have time to cover this morning is in your packets, please review them today. I'll leave you in the hands of Colonel Violet Black, the Headmaster of Haven Fleet Academy and Recruitment Director for her briefing," Ayan said, inviting the slender woman to the stage.
The Colonel stared daggers at Ayan, who walked past her stoically, holding her tongue. The moment she opened her mouth, all three of the Nafalli Admirals, Admiral Kulsh, and Mevin were on their feet with questions. She pointed to Kulsh first. "Your technology is advanced, but the systems that control it are less complex than games my aquatic friends play. Your new ships are also capable of maintaining an aquatic environment. It is clear that Admiral Anderson and her design teams have made the ships they've built ready for the people who want to join this fleet. When will you allow us to join Haven Fleet in a significant way?"
"There are a little over five hundred of your people in the academy right now, I would call that significant," Colonel Black replied.
"I would not," the Mergillian replied, shaking his broad head slowly. "Before this briefing began there were eight thousand and four of my people one-star system away who have passed your general combat vessel qualifiers with only thirty-three failing. They are ready to train on a ship."
"We must maintain the standards of the fleet by ensuring that everyone receives the same basic training in the academy and has a chance to demonstrate that they can follow regulations."
"Not one of my people have broken a single regulation since you allowed us to join this fight. I only bring you people who are ready to serve. When will you trust test results and performance records so my honoured colleagues the Nafalli and my people can help fill your ranks?"
"We've opened the academy doors to more people than we were prepared to as it is, so as our training capacity increases, so will admission," she started to answer, but Admiral Kulsh and the Nafalli looked to each other then walked out.
Ayan decided it was time for her to make her exit as well, using a door beside the stage that was on the opposite side of Kulsh and the three Nafalli Admirals. Jake met her in the attached antechamber, but Admiral Lamonthe got between them. "Thank you for the work you put into that briefing. I'm aware that you're doing all the work for the Defence Minister while he's being investigated."
"Interested in taking some of the load?" Ayan asked him with an upraised brow.
Lamonthe seemed startled by the offer, then nodded. "I'd be a poor colleague if I didn't help, I'd be glad to."
It was Ayan's turn to be surprised. "We'll talk about that tonight, then," she offered.
"Dinner, I'll bring the salad. I've been looking forward to sitting at the most interesting table in the fleet."
"It'll be just me, my mother and Laura tonight, but sure," Ayan replied, suspecting that Jake's absence would be a little disappointing.
"Excellent. That's not why I'm accosting you at the moment, though. I noticed that there was a ship on a special mission near British Alliance space," he showed her a small projection of a sector map and pointed at a red dot labelled; The Sector Jumper. "It's more of a curiosity for me at this point, but what are they doing way out there? Did someone send special envoys to our British Alliance allies?"
"It's an information gathering mission," Ayan said. "It has nothing to do with our alliance, and the lead they're following will probably amount to nothing, but Captain Valent
had two people available in his staff who could follow up and return."
"I noticed Chief McFadden was moved onto his crew the day he left," Admiral Lamonthe said, a little smirk starting. "Is this the kind of mission Captain Valent would pursue before he officially joined the Fleet? Some kind of cowboy thing? I noticed some of the mission form filings were done a little late, along with a few ship transfers."
"The Chief is still getting used to Fleet procedure, so his forms are a little late, it's to be expected," Ayan said with a shrug. "It's all correct and complete, I'm sure, Captain Valent or his second, Commander Price must have looked it over."
"It is, at that," Lamonthe said. "I'll watch this little ship with interest. I have a feeling the report will be interesting."
"If you like," Ayan said. "See you tonight."
Ayan made her way to Jake and waited before the antechamber doors were closed before giving him a brief kiss. "Is he taking an interest in Shamus's mission? I noticed he wasn't too careful about flashing the Sector Jumper's location."
"I think it's curiosity. Lamonthe is the perfect Fleet Intelligence boss, he needs to know absolutely everything," Ayan said as they sat down together.
"He'll find out about Shamus' trip eventually, especially when he signs his brother and nephew in."
"I know, and he'll probably have a laugh, especially if they bring back scans from several sectors away. It'll be something Lamonthe can plug into his Intelligence database. Thank God he has an explorer's appetite for information on faraway places."
"So, why not tell him the whole story now?"
"This might be the only chance I get to know something he doesn't, it's fun watching him squirm a little," Ayan whispered with a playful grin.
"How'd the briefing go?"
"Well, but I could see some of the better tacticians squirming over the numbers we put together last night. I could tell they expected our commanders to perform better than my predictions in similar scenarios, but they'll come around. With numbers like this, it's almost impossible to turn things around. They're tearing into Violet now. I set her up for the worst briefing of her life, not that she doesn't deserve it. Oh, expect a few Nafalli crewmembers soon. They're going to go over her head, I'm sure of it."
"Good, thank you. The fleet needs to keep security tight and bring recruitment way up. There are thousands of Nafalli and Mergillian warriors itching to serve on Haven Fleet ships," Jake said.
"That's going to happen, unless Violet wants to lose her job. I’m glad you got Shamus to sign on, I don't think we'd have anyone to replace him."
"I know, I just hope he gets back soon. I keep getting the feeling that this is one of those times where I should have talked him out of splitting from the crew. He has a talent for getting himself into trouble."
Fifty-Two
The space surrounding the Queen's Pride and the defence station that it came to rest against was a scattered mess of shredded metal, damaged drones and corpses. The forward dorsal section of the once great ship looked more like a moonscape. In the machine's efforts to break through to the bridge, they ruined the gentle curves of the metal that made the vessel seem more like a strange, elongated bird than a metal ship of the stars.
Spin, Aldo, Boro and Dori were able to get to the bridge through the ruined hull above it, where the machines cut and pried through to get to the Lux Family Royal. Death was suspended in zero gravity, frozen not only by the extreme temperature of open space but slowed as crewmen and women with expressions of pain and horror hung around them on the darkened bridge. "Holy shit, they tore him to shreds. It's going to take us hours to cut him free, and we'll have to take him apart then put him together like a puzzle," Dori said.
Aldo made a point of performing a thorough optical scan of the Prince in his command seat. The top half of his head was missing, his face was still, locked in anguished rictus. His white teeth seemed to gather light as they avoided the direct line of the unnerving grimace. "I remember they used to say how kind he was, but records show he owned as many dolls as anyone in the family," Spin said as she looked his command seat over.
"Ever meet him?" Boro asked.
"I remember meeting him when I was really young, and I had a really powerful feeling of adoration when he said hello. I doubt that's a real memory though, I'm trying not to think about that." On a whim, she ran a line between two gripper tendrils holding the Prince's arms to the chair and interfaced with the command recorder. A tiny green light began to blink beside the port.
"Think about what?" Dori asked as she drifted around the chair, looking at the severed bot arms and the manipulation tendrils that were left behind in his body. It was an incomplete evisceration, and Spin didn't want to spend more time looking at the remains than she had to, so she let her companions examine it.
"That my childhood probably wasn't real. It was programmed in, featuring memories that included servants and employees of the Countess along with her and her relations. They made sure I'd wake up at some later age thinking that it was just another morning in the palace, and that I'd been with the staff all my life." The thing that irked her the most was that she didn't really grow up with Larken. Her brilliant, well rounded childhood with his hand in hers was a lie.
"I can talk to her?" Ashley asked over their communicator.
"The link's open now," Spin heard Hal reply.
"Oh, okay. Spin, I can answer questions about that. I saw a lot of the programming for the dolls, even yours."
"So, it wasn't real?" Spin asked. "Just yes or no, we can talk about it more later."
"Well, no," Ashley replied. "You woke up when you were matured to an age equivalent of fifteen along with your counterpart. But I tell all the dolls who have to go through this that if those memories are real to you, if you cherish them, then they're as real as anything."
"We'll talk more later, this is a lot to take on right now."
"Okay, just… don't feel too down about it," Ashley said.
The console built into the chair lit up, and a window opened on the inside of her helmet showing the operating system for the ship's main computer. "He's still logged into the main computer. I'm going to try to download the database now."
"Quick retrieval," Shamus said over the communicator. "Remember, this is a quick operation, a few minutes. The raiders haven't noticed you lot yet, but they will."
"It's a direct data line, three percent complete already. This database is huge, it has…" Spin trailed off as she scrolled through the data manifest and saw the Royal Defence Force logo attached to every one of them. She was downloading with the Prince's access level, and the computer on her arm was opening the files before storing them so they were completely unlocked. She tried to access the corporate operations section of the database and gasped as she realized it was wide open. "Nine percent downloaded."
"What's in this database?" Boro asked on a private channel.
"Everything, Boro," Spin replied. "Their companies, military, personal wealth including dolls and slave records. I can look up their ergranian mines, harvesting fields for luxury goods, deep dig sites for rare compounds and I can tell you how well defended they are, look up some of the access codes to their defence perimeters, tell you if they're valid and when they changed. I can tell you who was transferred there - troops and slave labour - and see the patrol routes of the ships around it as well as the guards on the ground. This is like the files I had on the Countess only bigger and without the personal data. The files on the royals are about their security, nothing personal, but I think we could still do something with that. The fuel and munitions storage sites alone could be worth…" she trailed off, thinking about the upgrades she could get for her ship at one of the depots if she got lucky.
"Still do something with that…" Boro said pensively. "I thought you let go of your grudges, backed away from revenge."
Spin watched the download status bar hit twenty five percent as petabytes of information uploaded to her personal computer and tried to clea
r her head. The excitement of finding the whole cache of data unlocked was nearly overwhelming, she didn't consider why that was until Boro mentioned revenge. That was the only reason. Sure, raiding royal warehouses and operations could make them rich, but there were thousands of synthetic people out there, maybe more, and she could start freeing them from the Lux Royals.
"You can tell me anything, Spin," Boro said, moving to her side.
"How is it going down there?" Shamus asked over their communicator.
"Just planning, we'll be back on the ship soon," Spin replied. Her mind was on something else. When she sent the Countess' data to the public network so it would spread across the sector slowly, it was a relief. It didn't guarantee that the Countess would be sunk, she'd recovered from more disasters and scandals than Spin could count, but there would be some damage. Was that enough?
Spin closed her eyes for a moment and remembered what it was like to stand beside Larken as they learned that they would be used for breeding stock. Then Larken was bleeding to death in her arms, the memory was so fresh she could almost smell the blood. That was partially her fault, but it was blame she shared with Kort, and before she opened her eyes she could see his too-wide face grinning at her. He found Boro, revived him only so he could torture him until the damage was so deep that no one could say whether he would ever fully recover.
As she opened her eyes and saw that her download was seventy percent complete, she wondered how many monsters the Lux Royals had in their employ. With the data they had, she'd find out. Maybe she could even find a way to get the upper hand against the Countess and her dog again. "I want to use this for us," Spin said on a private channel to Boro.
Aldo interrupted her. "So, what are we doing here?"
"We're taking the whole chair, just give me a minute to finish the download before you cut data lines. Bag the whole thing, seal it so the prince here doesn't rot," Spin told them rapidly.
"Awesome," Dori said, looking at the remains as they were. Rods, flexible metal spines and manipulation lines pinned and stitched the Prince's body to the command seat. His chest cavity was almost completely open and his belly was torn, revealing the viscera beneath. "It's like a sculpture showing the whole mess this fucking holocaust virus made, machine turning on human using our own inventiveness against us. Like robots stealing his brain was a metaphor for the virus coming out of our heads and all the stuff pinning him to the chair is them making us pay for making emotional artificial intelligence then not setting it free. It is awesome, we should upload holo scans of it everywhere."
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