by Marc Stevens
“Klutch! Why do we need any part of the Prule Hivemind?”
Sael stepped aside and the Tibor’s face filled what little vision I had.
“Commander, it was a decision that Justice made. The only reason I complied was because I told him if I collected the sample it would be in my control, and I alone would decide its fate until you were back in command. He has agreed, and I have a small sample in a containment vessel designed by Justice and the Overseer.”
“I would like a few minutes to speak with Justice. The two of you have done an amazing job. The mission would have failed without you. Take some time to rest, and I will be expecting recommendations on our next mission goals.”
They both turned and left the med bay. When the hatch closed, my anger at Justice’s decision to get a Prule sample burned like a live coal inside of me.
“Justice! I want that Prule shit off this ship now!”
The AI knew when to use tact and went to work on deflecting my anger as much as possible. He did choose the one subject that would stop my oath-laden tirade.
“Commander, Tria is now stabilized and will make a full recovery. While it is not possible to restore her severed limbs, I ensured that there would not be truncated appendages to inhibit her or the necessity to create prostheses she must adapt to.”
I was angry, dizzy, and felt like a mudhole that had been stomped dry by Klutch. The path Justice chose to deflect my anger was becoming more perplexing than his decision to keep a Prule sample.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Commander, Tria is a veteran of many conflicts. She has witnessed a significant number of battlefield amputations. She is also well-aware of how advanced mechanized prosthesis can be. I assured her I could return full mobility to her severed limbs with military-grade prostheses. She has informed me of her wishes, and they will not include the use of robotics.”
My head now felt like a drum that someone was playing a war beat on. I could not think of a reasonable explanation for the cryptic doublespeak I was getting from Justice. My anger was once again on the rise, and I was going to need some straightforward answers before I popped my cork! The AI was very perceptive and knew when to lay all the cards on the table.
“Tria told me to make her look more like a human!”
“What?” I shouted.
“Rather than rely on the use of artificial appendages, Tria has decided to adapt to using only two. She instructed me to remove the severed arms in their entirety. The procedure was without complications, and she will be back to limited duty within the week.”
I was thinking the galaxy had gone mad. Yes, Earth had a very large percentage of truly wonderful people, but we also had our share of some who were bent in all the wrong ways and nothing would change them. The infatuation of other races to be more like humans had me dumbfounded. They chose to see only what they perceived as a way to change everyone for the better. While it was inspiring to think that contact with humans would give others hope, they really needed to take a tour of my planet so they could see the flip side of the coin. Humans as a people had come a long way from our savage roots, but we still had a long way to go.
“Commander, I am going to sedate you now and repair your battle damage.”
I was so preoccupied with my thoughts I couldn’t muster a comment to Justice’s statement. The last thing I remembered thinking before I blacked out was, I did not have the right to question Tria’s motives. She was the master of her future and destiny. I would never cross that line even if given the choice. She had made her decision, and I couldn’t fathom why it should bother me. Perhaps something deep down inside of me liked the fact her extra arms gave her a marked advantage when she was physically dominating me.
I awoke to a less than palatable taste in my mouth and Justice talking to me.
“Commander, you will still have discomfort due to the large number of blunt force dislocations inflicted on your skeletal system. All corrective alignments were successful, as well as the repair to the cartilage damage associated with them. You will make a full recovery. The effects of the concussion you received are now minimal. The swelling to the right side of your cranium has receded, and your sight will return to normal shortly. The bruising and tissue discoloration will ebb in the coming days, and I see no reason you cannot return to noncombat duty.”
I slowly processed everything Justice told me. The distinct notion I should be mad at the AI for some reason floated back and forth through my thoughts like a flashing billboard. Justice picked up on my contemplation and pushed on to a topic that would guarantee a change of subject.
“I have temporarily brought Tria out of her recuperative coma so she might speak with you.”
My med pod popped open, and my thought processes all shifted to a single subject. I slid my feet to the floor and stood, trying to assemble coherent thoughts that might somehow belay my concerns for Tria. She was keenly attuned to my sensibilities, and I did not wish to add additional stress to her healing cycle. The stunt she pulled to keep me from annihilating the Hivemind along with the council brought a sudden flare of anger that quickly passed. She knew exactly what it would take to clear away the hate-blackened veil the beast had been blinding me with. It was stupidity to think Tria would not have sacrificed her life for her people’s future. She did what she had to, and we paid a relatively small price for a victory that would ultimately benefit all races. I leaned over the side of her med pod, and she looked up at me with a small frown.
“You look like scat.”
The comment got its intended response. I smiled.
“I have had better days.”
“I was not trying to throw away my life needlessly. I did what I had to because I foresaw what it would take to give us all a better future,” Tria said. “While it may have seemed like madness at the time, the outcome has proven my choices correct.”
There was no arguing the truth of what she was telling me; she was right.
“I know. It just takes a backward-thinking human a little longer to process the facts.”
It was her turn to smile. I could feel the warmth of it caressing my spirit.
“I wanted to tell you that it was my idea to make sure a small sample of the Hivemind would be preserved,” she said. “I know there is a great deal of valuable information that can be extracted from the bio machine’s remains. Information that I am confident we can use in our war against the Prule. I wanted you to know this before you determined that Justice made the decision on his own. While Justice did agree with my assumptions, he also strongly stated that we would be doing so in conflict with your standing orders. I believe it is the reason Justice turned over responsibility of the sample to Klutch. We already know what the Troop Master thinks of the Prule. There is a good chance that the entities residing inside of the sample may have already perished.”
There it was! The one thing I wanted to ream Justice a new ass over. Now my justification for doing it was baseless. Knowing Klutch, Tria was right; the Troop Master would never waste a second of his time trying to maintain an environment healthy enough to keep the sample habitable. I leaned down and gently kissed her.
“I am going to need you as a sounding board for our next plan of action. Sael may have some good input, but it will be your recommendations I will place most of my faith in. I want you to rest and get healed as fast as possible.”
She gave me another golden smile as Justice closed her med pod. Her eyes blinked several times and then closed.
“Okay, Justice, you are off the hook. I was ready to have a meltdown, and now it is pointless. Even though you were overruled, you did make an attempt to enforce my orders. I will let the Troop Master know he doesn’t have to pretend he is caring for the containment vessel anymore.”
“Commander, Klutch is in fact maintaining the biomass to minimal inhabitability parameters. His methods have caused several hundred Prule entities to perish, but there are more than six hundred that still cling to their aw
areness.”
I was genuinely shocked at that piece of information. I would have never guessed the Troop Master would knowingly help the Prule survive. Now I had to wonder what exactly the Troop Master was doing. Unless he had some input from Justice, the Prule were as good as dead.
“So, you are actively helping him?”
“No, Commander. Klutch has received no aid from me, nor has he made an inquiry on how to maintain the biomass.”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“While I am familiar with the concept of ‘kidding,’ I can assure you, I am not.”
“That only leaves Xul, and I know he would only help if Klutch asked him to. Klutch would never do that, so what is he doing to keep them alive?”
“The Troop Master is urinating on the Prule biomass daily.”
It hurt to laugh, so I hurt for close to four minutes. Klutch didn’t give a damn whether the Prule survived; he just liked pissing on them. The comedy in what the Tibor was doing was therapeutic. Yes, I was beaten, battered, and bruised, but now felt right as rain. I made my way to the command deck, where I found everyone but Tria. It was hard not to smile at Klutch as I walked by him. I slapped him on the shoulder and made it a point to tell him to carry on. He scratched his bullet head and looked puzzled, but it changed to his usual big toothy smile. Sael sat frowning and finally approached me as I sat in my command chair.
“I would like your permission to enter the brig___”
“No, there will be no scenario where anyone but the Troop Master or Justice will have access to the containment vessel,” I said. “Do not waste your breath debating the matter. I have made my final decision, and nothing will change my determination. We have more pressing matters, so I suggest you pick another topic.”
The frustration on the Operative’s face was something I had grown used to seeing. She gathered her dignity and moved on.
“Is it still your intention to terminate this asteroid?”
“Yes, even with the level of weaponized nanites we released into the complex, the only way to be sure of complete sterilization is to reduce this place to atoms. Justice, do you have a briefing for us?”
“Yes, Commander. The antimatter device is now assembled. It will require an excursion to the asteroid’s power supply so it can be placed against the generator’s containment field. Klutch and Xul have already volunteered for the mission and have been instructed on proper placement. I will move the Legacy to the location of the lift shafts on your order. Before we can detonate the device, we must warn off the three Chaalt battle fleets that have encircled this station. I believe it will take a warning order from the Operative to gain the level of credibility that would ensure compliance.”
Sael nodded.
“I will be the one to set the destruct charge,” Sael said. “I want it to be known it was me and not another race responsible for destroying more than a trillion credits’ worth of research station.”
I could tell Xul was good with that, and I had no problem with it either. The trick now would be the timing of our escape. We had to shut down the shield dome in order for Sael to send any warnings of the base’s destruction. Once the dome was down, we needed to get the hell out of Dodge. I was pretty sure when Justice was out joyriding around the Chaalt home worlds, he managed to ruffle a lot of feathers. Hanging around to figure out if we were still on a first-name basis might not be in our best interest at the moment. Apparently, the Operative was brainstorming the very same subjects.
“Nathan, I will put the warning order on a comms buoy and have Justice launch it before we drop the shield. It set to broadcast the message on a continuous loop with a countdown timer of eight minutes? If the fools cannot jump clear by then, they deserve whatever happens to them. I also have a recommendation as to what I think should happen next. I hope that you will consider it carefully before committing to another course of action.”
As far as I was concerned, everything she was saying made sense and she was batting a thousand.
“Okay, Sael, I am with you so far. Let’s hear it.”
“I have coordinates that will give Justice the location of the Fury. I propose that we jump to that location, and I will take the council with me. We will then decide how best to repatriate the traitors and reestablish the rightful ruling party. Your presence is no longer needed for now, as many would see it as another unnecessary distraction to what many will decide is a power struggle of the ruling parties. It could also be misconstrued as proof the traitors were right about my ambitions of leadership and that you are backing me.”
I nodded that I understood.
“Nathan, I want you to know the Chaalt people owe you a tremendous amount of gratitude. I would like to think that one day, they will know just how much they really owe you and your followers. I doubt what has taken place will ever be publicly disseminated. I can almost guarantee you it will be buried in a dark corner, and only those who were involved in this mess will ever know about it.”
As far as we were concerned, the mission had a successful outcome and we were ready to move on. However, I felt there were still some unspoken issues that needed to be addressed.
“Tria put her life on the line to ensure the freedom of the council members. She was butchered for her efforts. I want you to personally tell the council that Tria’s military status is retired. You can come to us and ask if she wishes to serve, but I better never hear you say she is being reinstated to active duty under anyone’s command.”
“The council members saw what the Prule did to Tria. None will deny your request.”
“It was not a request.”
Sael looked me in the eye and nodded. “I will make sure they understand.”
“Justice, what is the status of your scans?”
“I have found no life forms or active Prule machine emissions in the complex. The only location that harbors the possibility for survivors is the power generator control room. That location is heavily shielded, and the reactor emanations further degrade my scan capabilities of that area.”
“Move the Legacy to the power plant lift shafts and make the Operative and Klutch an entry point.”
“Moving, Commander.”
“Klutch, gear up and meet the Operative in the hangar bay. I want you to port in and bring out any survivors while Sael sets the antimatter charge. I am going to have Justice send the termination codes to the weaponized nanites. He has warned me the acid discharge will spark fires throughout the complex. A large number of the fire suppression systems in the complex were infected by the Prule and will no longer be active. You should expect heavy smoke and flame to fill the shield dome in a short period of time. We will be standing by with the tow beam to collect you and any survivors. Once you are aboard, we are going to destroy the shield control building and jump to the coordinates of the Fury. Any questions?”
Klutch looked sideways at the Operative. She shook her head. “We are good to go, Commander!” he answered.
Klutch and Sael headed to the hangar, and I decided I would visit Tria in the med bay to give her a briefing. Justice alerted me he was going to use the rail cannons to uncover the lifts shafts. He quickly reported he had a usable access point for Klutch and Sael. As I entered the med bay, Tria’s pod opened and I waited until she became aware of my presence. The look of confusion on her face slowly turned to a small smile when she reached out to touch me. I realized she may have attempted to use the other arm she no longer possessed. When I was in high school, I had a friend who lost part of an arm working on a combine. He told me he still felt his lost hand and subconsciously tried to use it. Tria would have to make the same adjustment, and I suspected she would have to undergo training that would instill two-handed fighting techniques. She was crazy dangerous with all four arms, and now she could rely only on two.
I brought her up to speed on our current activities. She insisted on being moved to my quarters. Justice had no objections, so I helped her out of the med pod and wrapped a blanket around he
r. She was a little woozy but could walk on her own without difficulty. As we passed through the command deck, Xul promptly stood at attention. He could not hide the look of sadness on his face.
16
Once I had Tria squared away in my quarters, I headed back to the command deck. I wanted to know when Klutch and the Operative were on their way back to the Legacy. Normally, time seemed to whisk by, but now it seemed like an eternity had passed and still no word from my team members. Several minutes more went by, and I was going to start bellyaching.
“Commander, the Operative and Klutch are now using the lifts to bring out five Chaalt engineers,” Justice said, alleviating my concerns. “The charge is set, and once the strike team is aboard, we will be ready to evacuate to the location of the Fury. Past data suggests it will take the Chaalt no more than eighteen minutes to determine our DEHD core destination and dispatch military units to that location. It will remain to be seen if it is their intention to pursue us. I have preprogramed maneuvers to disrupt continued tracking of our movements. If it becomes necessary, I also have contingencies to discourage further pursuit.”