by D. R. Rosier
I wondered for a moment, if we’d screwed up, and should have just used the older static artificial assistant type like I had in my head. Jillintara was my friend, and lover, it’d been too easy to lose sight of the fact she was also an experiment, and would continue to grow over time. Of course, if we’d done that we’d have needed bigger crews, those kind of assistants could maintain and repair a ship just fine, but participate in fighting the ship and running the whole ship during off shifts? Not likely.
“Well, if it comes down to it, we’ll make them bodies when we have the chance and ability. If I have to, I’ll pay for it myself, or take a medical and cybernetics course and do it myself.”
She said, “That could take a while.”
I tilted my head, “What about a virtual body, could you program something like that? In the end, all those physical nerve impulses, senses, and bodily functions become data in your mind, in your computer matrix, which means you should know how to simulate them.”
She looked thoughtful, “To what end?”
I said, “It wouldn’t be real, but they’d be able to interact with each other on a physical level, virtually anyway, and as a result they’d start to develop more along your lines, to be more like an Isyth. It would also give them more entertainment. Then when they got real bodies in the future, and could interact in the real world, it wouldn’t be such a shock. Plus, that kind of project would keep you busy for a while, since we’re stuck in this damned system hiding for at least another nine months.”
She asked, “You worry they could go bad?”
I replied, “I worry that we aren’t doing the best we can for them, and the negative impact that will have. At the very least, they’ll be something entirely new, and won’t fit in with anyone but themselves. I won’t say that isn’t a concern, we should have put more effort into it from the beginning, but that’s hardly the only reason. We were both too busy back then, and rushing forward to get started on the next project.”
She said, “Maybe I will look into that, virtual bodies in some kind of meeting and activity place. Thanks Lori.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
She smirked, “You gave me something to do, and you showed you care.”
“Well, in a way, they’re our kids.”
She giggled, and teased, “Such a good mommy.”
I smacked her ass.
“Bad Jill.”
She snickered…
Chapter Seven
The bridge on a destroyer had the same layout of a cruiser, but was only about three quarters of the size. Despite that, it was more than spacious enough for five people. I was busy running a battle simulation, which included the new destroyer class I designed in a multi-ship action, simply for something to occupy my mind.
Sure, I needed to do it to get better at combat as well, but mostly I did it so I wouldn’t stare at the wall and brood over the damned reactor problems.
Vik said something that I was sure I must’ve heard wrong.
I paused the simulation and looked up.
“What?”
Vik said, “We need to go to Isyth. There are conflicting rumors on the public data net that Denik has executed some of our family, or all of them, or plans to do it soon. At the very least, they’re under guard and their implants have been disabled, I haven’t been able to contact anyone in days now.”
I knew that Vic had been in touch with his family. Quantum connections were untraceable, and unstoppable. Which meant it was safe for him to stay in contact with his family, as well as get on the public data net. As long as he didn’t give his location, there was no way for it to be traced. The unstoppable part made the news alarming, and Vic was right, if his family was suddenly off the grid, either their implants had been removed, disabled in some way, or they’d died. If they were dead, the implants would be too, since they worked off bio-electric energy.
“Right, but we don’t know about the changes, or where his fleet is yet. Not to mention security changes, or where your family was being held prisoner by Denik.”
That wouldn’t remain true for long, the probe ship was headed out of system, and had already started fabricating probes. The first ones would be sent out tomorrow. We’d planned to head to Earth as soon as the Scythe was repaired, in just the first week all the critical star systems would be under our surveillance.
Vic said, “I have some contacts on the planet, friends of my family I’m sure it’s safe to contact, they can help us. The larger problem is getting in system, and down to the surface without being caught. It’s monitored, and the systems will query our assistants to identify us if we follow channels.”
I frowned, and pondered the problem, I guess Earth would have to wait. Still, it was a risk, and the cold calculating assassin bitch inside me told me this was a mistake. If they were dead or alive, us going there wouldn’t change anything. Yet… if they were still alive, we could probably sneak them out with us.
“You know it’s likely this is a trap, and Denik himself created those rumors to flush you out of your hiding place. He’s got to be chomping at the bit, not finding us for four months now.”
Vic sighed, “I know that, but two thirds of my family already died in the battle. My two sisters, mother, father, and six of my brothers were all that was left. Not including the traitor. I need to find out the truth, and pull them out if they’re still alive.”
“The power station isn’t online yet, and won’t be for months. That means we’ll need the Scythe to get us in there, with the twenty reactor setup, it should be able to maintain stealth through FTL and all the way to the planet, as well as getting us back out. I don’t see how we can get there faster than nine days, or I guess seven if we use the wormhole drive.”
Jillintara sighed, “She’s right captain, the first thing I did was power down and start tearing down the reactor. Even if we had the old reactor online and ready to go, there’s no way it could maintain stealth for two days of FTL, eight hours to the planet, eight hours back out, and two days coming back here or going straight to Earth for the next part of our planned mission. Not to mention the time on the planet. Plus, we’ll have a better idea what we’re facing and where the fleet is in just a couple of days.”
Vik wasn’t happy at having to wait a week before setting out, but he reluctantly nodded.
“So how do we get from the ship to the ground on the planet?”
That one was harder.
Rilok said, “We can jump, or we can stealth a shuttle.”
“Believe it or not, the latter option is more problematical. The energy dampening field would be damaging to atmosphere, and we’d have to go extremely slow to avoid atmospheric wake. But if we did jump, how would we extract anyone, or ourselves?”
Well, the same way we landed safely I guess, the anti-gravity field I’d have to set up to work with our suits. I supposed that could send us right back to orbit easily enough.
I said, “We can do it, our suit’s cloak will work fine in atmosphere, but we’ll need spare suits for anyone we take with us. And… I’m going to have to build anti-gravity field emitters into our ship suits.”
Vik shook his head, “It might be more problematical to explain to my mother why she has to fly to orbit in nothing but a ship suit.”
Telidur snickered.
Vik’s lips twitched, “Do it.”
I sighed, and got to work. The plan to get to the surface was nuts, and once there our only plan was contact a friend who might know something, but it was too dangerous to ask over the data net. It set my teeth on edge, that was no way to run an operation. Still, I’d do my part. Hopefully, when we found some actionable intelligence, Vik would be patient enough to work up a real extraction plan.
I could only hope that one was needed, because if his family was slaughtered, at that point we’d just leave for Earth. I really hoped that the rumors were a ploy to draw him out, and that we didn’t get caught in the trap that had been laid for us.
I was also perve
rsely excited, it was insane, but it sounded like fun. I was good at figuring out how to use technology in new ways, if not the breakthrough I wanted for the reactors, it was also engaging and kept me focused, but that wasn’t my chosen profession. It was just a means to an end, and my future supply of cash. I preferred a more active role in things than designing stuff while sitting on my ass. Really, hiding and being relatively inactive for the last three months, outside of all the amazing sex, had been difficult.
I said, “Alright, what if we get caught on the surface?”
Rilok said, “Don’t”
I smirked, “That’s the goal, but I’m not insane enough to walk into a trap without several exit strategies. He might not see us coming, and he might not catch us going in, but I’m sure he has eyes on Vik’s family, wherever they’re being held. Chances are they’ll never expect us to fly up to orbit in ship suits, and will focus their attention on the ground while we get out free and clear but we can’t depend on it.”
Hell, back on Earth I liked to have more than one exit strategy when they didn’t know I was coming, or who my target was. All that assumed his family was even alive, which I hoped they were.
Telidur said, “She has a point, if… when we find the captain’s family, the mission turns from simple recon, which we can probably get away with, and will become rather loud and noisy.”
Vik said, “We’re just doing a recon on the planet’s surface, and getting information. That’s step one. If we decide to act on it, once we know the particulars, we can make a plan with contingencies. If they’re alive and safe, it may even make sense to leave them there, they might be safer there than in a battle in eight months.”
I still thought we needed better plans for phase one, just recon or not, but I supposed it could wait until we had more data in two days before I brought it up again. It would give Vik time to center himself, he was obviously deeply troubled by the possibility of his family’s demise. I supposed that was a hell of an understatement.
I spent the rest of the day adding even more toys to our ship suits. Much like the stealth emitters, gravity emitters just didn’t come in a size small enough, and I wound up adding just two more dimensional ports. Just one would do it, but it was always good to have a backup.
“Where’s Denik’s fleet?” Rilok said with annoyance.
It was late the next day
Vik asked, “Searching for us?”
Telidur suggested, “Running down Stolavii?”
“Figures, finally a politician who keeps his word, and it had to be an usurping madman.”
Vik looked at me blankly, right, political Earth joke didn’t go far in this crowd.
I said, “It’s not a bad thing, they might be doing both. With only fifty ships in each system, things don’t look that tight. They’re basically ignoring the few merchant ships there. We should be able to sneak in and drop to the planet with no one the wiser. I’m more worried about getting caught on the surface, we’ll have to uncloak to meet this friend of yours, who is he?”
Vik said, “She. Likara is the chef at the palace. She refuses to live on the premises, but was very loyal to my father and our family. We can contact her safely at her home in the night.”
I frowned, “Won’t your brother have her watched?”
Vik nodded, “Possibly, maybe. We’ll be cautious, and stay cloaked until we can be sure.”
I said, “Alright. But if we do wind up getting caught in a trap, we abort at the first sign they’re closing in, and head up to the ship.”
Vic frowned, “I’m the captain on this…”
I interrupted, “You are, but you also may well be the only heir right now, and I will grieve with you if we find out the worst has come to pass. But, if we die on the surface all of your people will suffer, the entire counter-revolution will die with us. We’re not just risking our lives and the ship to do this, we’re risking the future of the empire.”
Vik opened and closed his mouth with a furious expression.
I couldn’t blame him, it was rather blunt, but needed to be said. His father made the choice not to run with the royal family, but to take a stand. Who knew what a man like Denik would do? I also felt like a bitch, but it was important.
Rilok said, “She’s right, we need to think of the people.”
Vik sighed, “Fine. Rilok, you and Jillintara will stay aboard. If the three of us are hurt, captured, or killed, you’ll go to Earth without us and continue on. I’ll also agree with your suggestion Lori, if the trap is tripped, we immediately head for orbit before the jaws can close, and then reassess.”
Right, that wasn’t my point, but I’d have to take it. There was no way I could ask him not to go, he was needed for the mission and it was his family.
Rilok said, “Why me, she’s the human, and she’s the smart one who designed us a kick ass fleet.”
I frowned, Rilok giving me compliments was weird, he’d also agreed with my comment earlier.
Vik said, “Simply because you’re the first officer, and have the most experience in command. While Lori has made suggestions that led to good things, and fixed our power issues with the multiple reactor work around, she’s also the only one of us who has planned and executed multiple ops on getting in and out without being seen. I’ll need her down there. Plus, if something does happen, Jillintara has all her designs.”
I shook my head, nice to know where I stood.
He was also right, I’d already come through on the education and building stuff, that time was passed. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been wasting so much time banging my head against the wall on the reactor question. Was it critical? No, but it would sure be nice if we could put one or two reactors on each ship, and that’s it. My workaround worked just fine, but it wasn’t optimal at all. If the infrastructure for so many reactors wasn’t so cheap compared to the stable heavy element used in the reactor, it wouldn’t have been viable.
Jillintara looked resigned at being left on the ship again.
Vik said to her, “I want you as part of the team when we go down to Earth. I also promise when this craziness is over we’ll take a vacation.”
Jillintara grinned, “Alright, I can wait on the ship.”
“So, five more days?” and six nights.
Vik sighed, “Five days.”
Chapter Eight
Nothing lasts forever, and I was a selfish bitch. Those were two thoughts that stuck in my mind those five days.
To be fair, I’d been worried about Vic’s state of mind, since he was distant for most of that time. Not just with me, but with everyone aboard. I couldn’t blame him for it, I couldn’t imagine what he was going through, literally, since I didn’t have a family. Those five days had to be torture for him, as he waited before we could act to find out the truth.
I thought about that a lot actually. But… there was also the selfish part. My mind couldn’t help but play what if? What if he was the heir. What if his family was dead, and he would be next on the throne assuming we succeeded and didn’t die in our counter-revolution. That meant our relationship was doomed, and his days as a captain were numbered. With over twenty siblings, he could afford to be a captain and not find a mate to secure his family’s legacy. But… if he was in a position to inherit, he would have to find an Isyth mate, make babies, and rule the empire.
I didn’t think I’d have a place in that scenario, being an alien from the Sol system and all.
It was a horribly selfish thought, but being on this ship with the others had so far, been the happiest time of my life, despite the challenges and what went on in the empire. It was a selfish thing, that while he was going through that, I was worried about myself. I worried for him too, but I still felt self-centered.
Worse, if he did take up that charge, I’d lose Telidur as well, since I was sure Telidur and Rilok would go back to being royal guards, and wouldn’t leave his side. Somehow, I doubted I’d get to keep the Scythe, which meant I’d lose Jillintara as well.
/> I’d be rich, raking in the credits, and be completely alone. I didn’t want to go back to that, and after almost four months, I didn’t want to go back to Earth either.
All those worries stemmed from the fact I was very attached to all of them. I’d live in the present and try to enjoy things, but I also hoped like hell that Vik’s family was okay. Some of that hope though, was born of my own desires, not just for Vik’s sake.
They were my first true friends and lovers, and the idea of losing them all at once scared the shit out of me. I’d always thought it was probably inevitable, but not for many years yet.
I also knew it was foolish to borrow trouble from the future, but I was just nineteen, and while I was mature in some things, I’d never had a relationship, or a breakup before. I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. There was jealousy in there too, of a woman Vik hadn’t even met yet. Which was… ridiculous.
The jealousy, ridiculous or not, also brought up more concerns. Maybe this friends with benefits thing worked for the Isyth, but I had the thought it was only working for me because they were all mine. Vik, Telidur, and Jillintara were sharing me, but I wasn’t sharing any of them. How would I react if I had to one day? My initial thought was assassination of whatever bitch dared, but that was crazy, and obviously not going to happen. Did the Isyth not have jealousy? I hadn’t given it much thought before, due to my inexperience with relationships I’d taken it at face value it worked because of the lack of any disease or unwanted pregnancy in Isyth society. But… maybe there was more to it.
I did more than brood those five days. More and more star systems were being added to our military probe data network by the day. By the end of the five days, we had a probe in every known active system in the empire, then we started to fill in the thousands of others. That would take a long time to complete, but it would be done before the year was up, and our fleet was ready.
We’d also gotten our new ship suits, and had tested them along with the software. That part was actually really fun, because we could literally fly down corridors and defy gravity. It also let us safely work out bugs in the software and configurations before doing so in orbit. The shields would keep our oxygen in, even without the head gear of the suit on, and prevent the atmosphere from buffeting us during entry, although we’d be going relatively slow when we got there, to avoid creating any noticeable atmospheric wake.