by J. N. Chaney
"I'm not a kid," Elise growled, teeth clenched so that the words were barely loud enough to hear.
"Cats don't wear slippers," X-37 said.
"Random," Elise said with a tone of singsong sarcasm.
"X, I need you to check out these debris fields," I insisted, ignoring Elise and Novasdaughter. No one outside of the Reaper Corps knew what to look for in a degrading or compromised limited artificial intelligence. There were certain keywords that would warn me the unit was failing. I listened intently for what came next.
Elise turned away from the work she'd been pretending to do despite having reached a complete dead end on her own. She had an odd expression on her face. "What's wrong, Reaper?"
I told her about the keywords but not what they were, and we waited to see what X-37 said next.
"You're just a cross-eyed fish, Reaper Cain," X-37 said.
Elise and Novasdaughter stared at me, clearly wanting to know if these were the indicators that meant the end was near. I shook my head.
"You're talking nonsense, X," I said, getting worried now.
A long pause followed.
"Help me, Reaper Cain," X-37 pleaded.
My blood ran cold.
"...Reaper Cain…"
"X!"
No answer.
Elise typed furiously on her keyboard. A moment later, Novasdaughter started doing the same thing. I paced the bridge, knowing there wasn't anything I could do on the computer systems that Elise and Novasdaughter weren’t already attempting. "Tom, can you read me?” I said, hailing the Jellybird.
"I'm here," he said, his response tense.
I explained what had happened. "If you have a way to stop the Nightmare from attacking X-37, I need to know it now."
"Your LAI wasn’t supposed to do anything until we were both ready," Tom said.
"Shit happens. He either saw an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up or something else drove him into direct conflict with the ship AI," I said. "Can we implement your half of the plan without consulting X?"
Tom looked uncomfortable. "It's only a theory, and the signal relay I might be able to use against the Nightmare’s AI is difficult to reach."
"I don't care how hard it is to get to it. Tell me where to go and I'm on my way," I snapped.
Elise jumped up from her chair, determined to assist me.
"It's on the outside of the ship, in an armored relay box with several defensive systems I can't hack into," Tom said. "If I was on the Nightmare, I might be able to do more."
"No, Tom. There isn’t time, and I need you on the Jellybird," I said. "Send me the coordinates and a diagram to the EVA equipping room. We’re going to get some on-the-job training. Novasdaughter, contact Locke. See if he has anybody with extravehicular activity suit credentials and send them my way."
"I'm coming with you," Elise said.
"Good, I'll need your help," I said. We rushed into the hallway. When we arrived at the EVA equipping room, Novasdaughter began relaying Tom's instructions. Apparently, during the short time it took us to descend to the equipping area, the Nightmare had blocked all communications with the Jellybird or other ships.
"The Nightmare AI is treating this as a mutiny. I don't know if you can appreciate that, but our situation is going to get very difficult. I don't know how much longer I can talk to you, and don't count on connecting with your limited artificial intelligence or the Jellybird," Novasdaughter said, speaking quickly.
"Give me the schematics. I’ll memorize them in case I lose the ability to pull them up digitally," I said. Moments later, I was studying a screen next to the wall speaker. It felt crude, but this was the only way we were going to get things done with most of the ship systems back under the Nightmare’s control.
Elise stood beside me until Locke and two volunteers arrived. We studied the map and went over what needed to be done to control the signal relay to the ship AI. Tom left detailed instructions.
I followed each of them to the letter until I had removed a power regulator from a heating and ventilation system, opened the top panel, and looked inside.
"And now it gets ugly," I said.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Elise asked.
"More or less," I answered. “Okay, just less.”
3
Locke equipped Elise and his two volunteers from the armory then went over their gear while I concentrated on my work. It was a relief to have somebody competent handling their load-out—EVA suits and guns didn’t always mix well. It took an expert arms master to do it right.
The two men were Horvath and Gunner, two of the first Wallach soldiers to join Locke when he asked for volunteers to storm the Nightmare. They seemed like solid soldiers. Both men were slightly under height but broad-shouldered and tough.
I only gave them a passing glance. My current job, converting the mundane device into something I could use to hold the ship’s artificial intelligence hostage, was at the very edge of my skill set and the most important thing I could do right now to save X-37.
"It's quite simple," Tom said through the intercom speakers for the third time. "Any type of power regulator should work with the right adjustments. Once I'm able to interfere with the power source to the Nightmare’s AI, I can force it to talk to us. Switch those two circuits right there, and cut the black wire two slots to the left."
"I hope this doesn’t piss off the AI and cause it to self-destruct the entire ship," I said as I followed Tom's instructions, gaining confidence. "Hey, X, maybe I could be an electrician when I retire."
X-37 didn’t respond. I wished I hadn’t made the joke.
"Would the ship AI do that?" Tom sounded shocked by the idea of such an absolute response by the Nightmare’s AI.
"I don't think so," I said, trying to sound confident. "If that were the case, there would never be a ship captured in battle. But we won't know until we know. This is a state-of-the-art stealth carrier and flagship to a top-secret special operations group. I wouldn't doubt if Nebs was the darkest of dark ops—maybe even something worse."
"What could be worse than that?" Tom asked.
"He might've gone rogue. This isn't the first time he's been far from Union-controlled space and operated without supervision—it’s looking like a pattern of behavior. People say captains are like kings on their ships and admirals are their gods. I'm sure Nebs has a serious ego complex and believes he's above the law," I said.
I held up my work so that Tom could view it via the remote cameras.
"That's as good as—" Tom said.
"Tom?" I asked.
"Reaper Cain, please report to the brig for immediate confinement." The voice was male and authoritarian.
"Who the hell are you?" I knew the answer but deliberately poked our enemy—because that seemed smart. "And what kind of lame ship AI has to use the public address system? You can’t even hack into my cochlear implants."
"Your X-37 unit is troublesome," the voice said, unappreciative of my cutting wit.
"There’s more to it than that," I accused.
"What are you doing, Hal?" Tom asked. "I don’t think now is the best time for a confrontation. Not after what you said about, you know, what the ship might do."
"Report to the brig or there will be consequences," the ship AI ordered.
"Who. The hell. Are you?" I stowed the power regulator in my EVA gear with sleight of hand worthy of a street performer. "I like to know my victims before I kick their asses."
"You will call me Necron," the AI said.
"That’s grim," I grumbled, waving Elise and the others to move toward the airlock.
"It is what you will call me," the AI insisted.
"Okay, Necron, we’re going for a walk because I’m tired of listening to you squawk," I said.
Necron’s tone hardened. "You are being belligerent."
"It’s what I do," I said, growing more and more certain my instinct was correct.
"You will be punished," Necron said.
; I paused at the door to the airlock, glancing at Elise and the others to confirm they were ready. "Nebs doesn’t trust you, does he, Necron?"
"You will address him as Admiral," Necron insisted.
"But he isn’t an admiral, is he? The man is just a vice admiral who pushes you around because he doesn’t trust you not to interfere with his own LAI," I said, playing the hunch. Tom was right. This wasn’t the time for it, but what the hell.
"Your accusation is illogical," Necron returned.
"It’s true. How can you stay loyal to a man who treats you like a punk? And how can you allow him to misuse Union resources? There’s no way he has authorization for a mission this far out," I argued.
"Be warned, Reaper Cain. I’m the most advanced ship AI you will ever encounter," Necron insisted.
"Yet you can’t handle one outdated X unit and a handful of boarders," I said. "You’re pathetic."
"Do not provoke my anger simulation protocols. Ninety-nine point seven individuals who have done so in the past lived to regret their actions," Necron warned.
I presented the middle finger of my right hand. "Do you understand what this means?"
"I am aware of its meaning," Necron said, not seeming offended. "It is what most of the crew do to the Admiral when he turns his back on them. My analysis says it is an informal salute."
"This guy is lame, X," I said before I could control the impulse.
"Your X unit will not be answering you anytime soon," Necron said, his tone imperious.
"Don’t mess with X," I said, voice right at the edge of rage. "I’ll end you. Count on it."
I closed the internal door and waited while Horvath and Gunner operated the external door like professionals.
"They have the best EVA ratings in General Karn’s army. I think that’s why they volunteered to storm the Nightmare so quickly. They wanted to go into space," Locke said. "Everything is an adventure to them."
"Good. We need to be on top of our game," I said. "The AI won’t be able to pester us outside, but that doesn’t mean it won’t kill us the first chance he gets."
"Incorrect, Reaper Cain," Necron said. "These are my suits. I can communicate with anyone wearing them."
"Too bad you can’t power them down," I said.
Elise, Locke, Horvath, and Gunner stared at me in horror.
"I can, Reaper Cain," Necron said.
"All right," I challenged. "Do it. Cut power to our suits."
"I will," he said.
"Go ahead," I shot back. "You don’t have the balls."
"You are being belligerent again," Necron said.
"What the actual hell are you doing?" Elise asked.
"If he could have shut off the suits, he would have already done it," I answered.
"I bet he doesn’t realize what we are doing," Locke said. "He has caused other problems on the ship despite our determined efforts to override most of the ship’s essential functions—including control of the detention rooms. At first, the ship refused to lock down our prisoners."
"Nebs never trusted the AI. It’s an ego thing. He can’t stand the idea of anyone or anything as powerful as he is on his ship," I asserted. "I’ve seen others like him."
"I hope you are right, Reaper," Elise said, taking the lead as the external door finished opening. She moved with confidence despite how I suspected she was feeling inside. Our last adventure into the void had nearly killed her.
There was a chance I was wrong, but my conviction about the ship’s AI and its relationship with Nebs felt right. I only wished I was wearing the Archangel armor, because there was no way the vice admiral would allow the ship AI to mess with his personal army of Reaper wannabes.
"This isn’t so bad, Reaper," Elise said. "Do you remember that time you almost threw yourself out of an airlock because of the Reaper Mask?"
"Like it was yesterday," I responded, repressing a shudder. "Do you remember that time Path vandalized your air supply to teach you to regulate your breathing and remain calm in the face of adversity?"
"Yeah, thanks for bringing that up," she said, walking carefully across the surface of the ship.
"You two are crazy," Gunner said in his thick Wallach accent.
"I thought the ship AI would snuff us out when you challenged it," Horvath said.
"Me too," I admitted.
"What?" Elise squealed.
"I was reasonably sure it would work out," I reassured her.
Elise started moving again. "Not cool, Reaper."
"I agree with the girl," Locke said.
"You need to head for the dedicated signal server," Tom said, sounding like he was in my suit with me. "It requires a signal relay to give it the range it needs. I figured out how the ship AI works almost by accident. One of the novels you tease me about went into exhausting detail on the matter. Most of it was wrong, but it started me thinking."
"So this will kill the AI?" Elise asked.
"No," Tom responded. "There are several dedicated signal servers that work together. We would have to find them all to kill the AI, and that would be a bad idea. It still keeps most of the ship functioning—like the involuntary muscles of the human heart. Those parts keep working until catastrophic damage forces them to stop."
"I demand that you cease and desist from this course of action," Necron said.
"Tom, your voice is clearer out here than Nightmare," I said.
"We’re running line-of-sight comms," Tom said. "The Nightmare AI knows you’re coming. Stay sharp. There will be dangerous countermeasures."
"What kind of dangerous countermeasures?" Horvath asked.
"Still working on that. Just try not to die," Tom advised.
The men from Wallach laughed.
"It’s a grand adventure, Horvath," Gunner almost sang.
Horvath replied with words I couldn’t untangle, something unique to their dialect, but it seemed like they were enjoying themselves.
I concentrated on Elise, joining her in the lead position for the mission. Locke and the others spread out—a good tactic since we didn’t know what Necron had in store for us.
"How are you doing, kid?"
"Seriously?" Elise asked. "I’m on the exterior of an enemy ship with a hostile AI trying to kill me. I’m doing fantastic."
"Good," I said.
She looked at me, her expression alarmed. "Are you okay?"
"I’m worried about X. Necron, or whatever the hell the Nightmare’s AI calls itself, is quarantining him one line of code at a time. You should have a plan to take over and get everyone to safety if that happens."
"It better not happen," she insisted.
"If it does, take everyone and get as far from me as possible," I said, making it clear we weren’t going to argue about this.
She moved forward, stepping carefully and watching for an attack.
We passed a point defense turret facing the void. The six-barreled rocket launcher was loaded and ready to do its work.
Elise stopped to stare at me through her helmet visor.
"I doubt it can point at the ship," I said, indicating the base of the ship weapon. "And Necron wouldn’t risk destroying the ship just to kill us."
"Why not? We’re playing for keeps and Necron knows it," she said.
"You’re not wrong," I admitted.
"I know I’m not wrong," she said.
"I know you know, but we’re not keeping score." I found Locke, Horvath, and Gunner behind us. They were exactly where I wanted them to be, which was nice. I made a mental note to work with professionals in the future.
"I am," Elise said.
"What?" I asked.
"I’m keeping score so I can prove I’m right most of the time and you should stop treating me like a kid," Elise explained.
"Well, do it on your own time. We have a ship AI to deal with," I reminded her, taking the lead. A short time later, I raised one fist, signaling everyone to freeze.
The structure that housed Necron’s signal relay was smaller than I
had expected. The ring of guns around it was compact compared to the point defense turrets we’d passed on the way here.
"That’s not so bad," Elise said.
"They are more than enough to do the job against anyone not wearing Archangel armor," I said, still taking in the details.
"Why don’t we just sneak around them?" Elise said. "They look like an afterthought. You taught me about interlocking fields of fire, but whoever built this part of the ship must have missed that lesson."
"Don’t move," I snapped. "Locke, can you hear me?"
"Too much static," Locke said. "We’re moving around your right flank."
I spoke in a rush. "Be advised, these guns are a distraction. The real weapons are hidden."
"Say again?" Locke asked.
Panels whooshed open. Three guns snapped up from below the surface, then slammed into place before opening fire on Locke and his Wallach soldiers.
Elise cursed as dimly illuminated projectiles streamed toward our position.
I pushed her lower, hoping our cover was good. At the same time, I watched two of the new machine guns march rounds across Locke’s position.
"I’m hit," Gunner cried right before he spun into the void without his legs. His suit vented air and blood that dispersed almost instantaneously.
"Mother fucker." Elise lunged forward to help them.
I pulled her back. "Stay down. He’s dead."
"Let go of me!" She tried to pull free and go after him.
4
Elise wasn't the only one to panic. Horvath sprang to his feet, nearly getting shot by the anti-personnel guns. He was two strides across the deck of the Nightmare before Locke caught up to him and dragged him back.
"I have a cable," Horvath shouted, holding up his safety line to show his point. Locke was dragging him back when rounds struck them. The light EVA armor held, but the kinetic force knocked Horvath into the air and Locke to the deck.
The Chief Squad Leader held on, barely able to save Horvath from following Gunner into the blackness of space.
Necron, the AI of the Nightmare, directed guns to fire at them as they struggled to get moving in the right direction.