Ghost in the Machine (Corwint Central Agent Files)

by C. E. Kilgore

  “Thank you.” She understood the inflection in his voice. He did not trust her enough to divulge the location to her until they were clear of the port and out of communications range. She didn’t blame him. She was, after all, a race whose rumors preceded her and that type of judgment was to be expected. That thought brought her back to her meeting with the Mecha. Hank had already turned to go when she looked back up. “Captain, I...”

  Hank paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder. He saw hesitation in her eyes. “Yes?”

  “I am sorry if I offended him.”

  “Who?” His mind answered the question before it left his mouth. “Oh, Ethan?”

  She nodded. “I have always been fascinated by technology and he is...” She struggled to put it into words, so she fell back on one she seemed to be using quite a bit lately. “...remarkable.”

  “Don’t worry about it. He gets that all the time. Well, not the remarkable part.” Hank scratched the back of his neck and tried to decide how to put it without it making her feel like she had been rude earlier. “He’s used to people doing a double take when they see him. I mean, heck, he’s a seven foot tall blue Mecha, so he sticks out in a crowd.”

  “He is so much more than that.” She whispered and lowered her eyes. “I have met other Mecha before. I have never met anyone like him.” She turned her eyes back up to Hank. “Please let him know that I did not intend to be another person gawking at him like some... thing.”

  Hank started to speak again, but her eyes muted him. He could feel the empathic wave emanating from her. Her concern was tangible and it stuck to his skin. She was genuinely worried that she had hurt Ethan’s feelings. Everyone else just figured Ethan had no feelings to hurt.

  “I’ll talk to him.” When he agreed, her face lit up into a soft smile again and the air in the room immediately lightened.

  “Thank you, Captain.”

  Hank turned and left, the door closing behind him. A wave of relief washed over him as he stood alone in the corridor. Orynn’s empathic abilities were no rumor, and they were strong. He wasn’t even certain she knew the effect she just had on him, unless it was all a ploy to try and gain his sympathies. There was something genuine about her, however, that he couldn’t just push aside. Walking back toward the bridge, he hoped she would be able to keep her empathic abilities in check, or things on this small ship could get interesting.

  “Hank?” Tara’s voice spoke through the small com link in his ear. “Is she all settled?”

  He reached up and tapped the button on the side and made his way to the bridge. “Yes.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Sorry.” He frowned at the curt reply he had given her. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “Alrighty. Well, I’ve completed final checks. The ship is ready to leave port and I’m on my way up to the bridge.”

  “Thanks, Tara. I’m on my way.”

  “Last one there scrubs down the air filters this month.” Her voice smiled through the com before she turned off her link and made her way out of the engine room. Something had rattled him and that was not an easy thing to do. She was certain it had something to do with Orynn and the incident earlier with Ethan. That talk later was going to be interesting, she was sure. She knew he cared for Ethan a great deal. Perhaps Orynn had offended both of them.

  Tara ran her hands through her hair and re-gathered it into a loose ponytail. Orynn was so different than any other person she had encountered before. The vibe she gave off was a strange mix of stoic aloofness and a childlike fascination with the world around her. Tara had so many questions about her life and her people. She hoped Orynn would be willing to open up to them the longer she stayed with them. More than that, Tara hoped she would be allowed to remember her when they parted ways.

  Tara’s thoughts halted as she stepped on the bridge to the sound of Hank’s irritated growl. Dammit, I hate scrubbing air filters.

  “What do you mean we aren’t cleared to leave port?” Hank’s annoyance was aimed at the view-screen in front of him.

  On the view-screen was a uniformed station operations manager, overweight and overworked. He had dark circles under his pale green eyes and his jowls vibrated as he stammered for the right words. Hank had ported here numerous times, always paid well and never caused any trouble. It was obvious the decision to keep the Zera docked was not his.

  “I’m sorry Captain Eros.” He looked to his left and right, then leaned down closer to the screen. “We just received word that a Xen'dari search team is on its way. They have had reports of someone smuggling utarium.”

  “Utarium?” Hank had to laugh at that. Utarium was a highly volatile substance that was prized among weapon makers for its brutal lethality. Its production and movement was highly regulated by the Xen'dari. They made sure their well-paying allies had some while everyone else had none. “Wonderful. Let me guess, they want to hold all of the ships and search them.”

  “I’m afraid so.” The manager frowned.

  “Thanks for the heads up, Daggs.” Hank hit his hand against the arm of his chair after Daggs cut the line. “Perfect! That’s all we need.”

  “What are we going to do, Cap?” Brom looked over from his seat at weapon control, wondering if their peaceful record at Last Star was about the be blown to bits. The unregistered medical supplies currently in their cargo hold was the least of their worries. Every member of the ship had some sort of warrant out for them by the Xen'dari.

  “What about using her?” Ethan’s voice cut over the com. His seat on the ship was located in a tactical data center to the right of the bridge where he could directly connect himself into its systems.

  “Are you crazy, man?” Brom cursed at the bodiless voice. “You wanna test her out on Xen'dari soldiers? If it fails, it’ll be all our heads!”

  “It is what the Director assigned her to us for, isn’t it? Do you have any better ideas?” Ethan replied, then quickly rephrased. “Ideas that don’t involve us blasting down the hangar doors and making a run for it.”

  Hank interrupted as his com line beeped with a waiting call from Daggs. “Good news I hope?”

  “Afraid not.” Daggs’s voice cut into the com channel in a hushed frenzy. “They are here. I’m sorry, but when they saw your ship’s name on the register, they... well they are heading straight for it.”

  “Shit. Thanks, Daggs. I owe you one.” Hank cut the line and turned to his crew. “Ideas?”

  “Man, I told you to dock it as that trade vessel we saw on Corwint.” Brom ran his hands over his scalp.

  “I didn’t have time to get the documents together. Ideas? Anyone?” Hank cursed under his breath again and dialed the internal com. “Orynn, can you please meet me back at the docking ramp? We are about to have some uninvited company.”

  Despite her desire for a much needed rest, Orynn met Hank at the docking ramp as requested. Although she had not expected them to need her assistance so soon, perhaps this was the chance she needed to earn some trust from the crew. Still, she felt the heaviness of her eyelids as Hank explained the situation to her, and she hoped she would be able to do what they needed. The mention of utarium brought her attention back into focus. “Utarium?”

  “It’s probably just an excuse the Xen’dari inspection team is using to search the port. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Hank paused and looked at Orynn, having second thoughts about this plan. She looked fragile and hardly a force to go up against Xen'dari soldiers if anything should go wrong. She also looked dead tired from her trip. “If you aren’t sure about this, we can figure something else out.”

  Orynn held her hand up and smiled. “This is what the Director sent me for, Captain Eros. It is my job to make sure that you do not have to blast your way out of hangars all the time. Do not worry. I should be fine. My only concern would be from an Observer.”

  Hank frowned at the idea. Observer was the given name for the highly trained enslaved Trexen that the Xen’dari used to sniff out �
�traitors”. Even with their limited numbers, they had been a pain in Central’s ass on numerous occasions. “And if they do have an Observer with them?”

  “I will have the guns on standby.” Ethan’s voice chimed in through the com panel on the wall next to them. “Just be aware, I will have no problem leaving you Breathers behind.”

  “Yeah right.” Hank looked at the com unit on the wall. “My ghost would get a kick out of watching Tara dismantle you.”

  “It would be worth it.”

  “I’m sure. Just be ready to gun it and get out of here.”

  “Course plotted and ready ten minutes ago, so if you could hurry this along...”

  The docking ramp com panel beeped to announce the arrival of the boarding party. Hank reached for it, but Orynn touched his arm and shook her head. She let it beep five more times, then answered in the most harassed and irritated tone Hank had ever heard.

  “Yes?! What is it?!”

  “We have orders to search this vessel.” A soldier’s voice called into the com. His voice sounded young, and it was masked with a false vibrato that failed at its intended intimidation. “By command of the Xen’dari Empire, lower your docking ramp and comply or we will use lethal force.”

  Orynn hissed. “You will reconsider your tone or I will have you serving on the cafeteria line at Thaden Antari.”

  Thaden Antari was one of several prison planets operated by the Xen'dari. It was also a frozen wasteland where the average lifespan of prisoners was two years. The average lifespan of the guards was five. The Xen'dari often sent its disappointing soldiers there to retire.

  That seemed to give the officer pause. “Ma’am, please lower the ramp. We have the Zera as listed on our warrants doc.”

  Orynn nodded at Hank and motioned for him to stay at the top of the ramp as she lowered it. Before his eyes, she transformed into a large and imposing female Ruisk, a race that few in the universe would dare to throw idle threats at. She gave him a carnivorous grin, flashing her elongated upper canine teeth. The orange irises of her feral cat-slit eyes and her now brown-skinned six-foot-four-inch height added to the dangerous red aura that emanated from her. Her white hair had faded into a mane of wild untamed sand colored locks, and her fingernails grew into sharp curved claws.

  He knew that beneath the projection, nothing about her had physically changed. Without that knowledge, the ruse was perfectly conceived and he actually took a reflexive step back. He had been through enough run-ins with Ruisks to know that a little fear of them could be a healthy thing. He swore she even smelled like a musty Ruisk.

  The ramp met the deck of the hangar bay with a deafening clang. Pausing for effect, Orynn let the sound that echoed into the hangar be followed by an uneasy few seconds of silence. Stretching her fingers out to give full view of her claws, she gave an audible snarl and headed down the ramp with heavy confident strides. She had to stop from smiling as the officer in front took a large step back. It was obvious that a female Ruisk was the last thing he expected to see coming out of this ship.

  Her voice was deep and full of conviction. “The Zera? Are you stupid?”

  “I...” The officer staggered slightly. “It’s what it says on the log sheet.”

  “Give me that.” Orynn ripped it out of his hands before he could protest, and she pretended to search through the registry for a few moments.

  Hank sighed with relief as he watched from the shadows at the top of the ramp. They seemed to be lower ranked officers and so far no Observer had made an appearance. Perhaps their inexperience would give them the break they needed to get out of here without blowing the Director’s no-destruction-allowed mission before it had even started. He wondered how Orynn would handle the station’s docking manifest, which clearly listed this ship as the Zera.

  “Yexka!” Orynn thrust the log back into the officer’s chest. “Can you not read? It clearly says that the name of my ship is the Kera. As in Kera Ruistra.”

  “K...Kera Ruistra?” The officer blanched and looked at the log again. He looked from the log to her, then back to the log again and swallowed. Sweat beaded on his brow as he bowed deeply. “Please forgive our mistake, your highness.”

  “Forgive?” Orynn sneered and took a step toward the officer, just as a real offended Ruisk would react. Apologizing to a Ruisk was a mistake few seldom lived to make again. Orynn added a wave of negative energy that filled the bay and struck the men in front of her. Each of them took a shaky step back as a growl rumbled through her throat.

  “I should slice your gut and spill your entrails to the floor. Never have I encountered such stupidity. You make the hangar wreak with the vile stench of your incompetence!”

  The officer looked like he was about to piss himself. “I could have sworn the log said... but it was clearly a mistake.”

  “Clearly.” Orynn glared at him, then glared at each of the five soldiers behind him, just to be sure they had all gotten the full effect of her ruse. It was obvious by their avoidance of the fury in her eyes that they had no doubt that she was Kera Ruistra, daughter of the Ruisk high ambassador to the Xen'dari Empire.

  She let out a loud disapproving hiss and bared her fangs. “It is sad to think how lax the Xen'dari have become in their training requirements. I will have to bring this up with my father. Now get out of my sight before I make an example out of all of you!”

  “At once, your highness. You are officially cleared to leave.” He marked his log and unlocked the bay door without looking at her again. The officer and the soldiers behind him bowed, backed away and then quickly disappeared from their docking station.

  Once the ramp of the Zera was closed and secured, Orynn shook the ruse from her and leaned heavily against the wall. The cold titanium felt good against her back as she took in several deep breaths, glad to have that over. Simple memory projections and subtle feature masking like she had been doing earlier was second nature to her and required little conscious effort. Carrying out such a fully constructed and specific guise in the state she was in had been risky, but they had luck smiling on them today. The officers had been young and gullible.

  When she opened her eyes again, she was met by Hank’s stunned gaze. “We should be free to disembark now, Captain.”

  “That was impressive.” Hank watched her labored breathing and noticed the small beads of sweat that had appeared on her forehead. “Are you alright?”

  Orynn pushed herself from the wall with the last of her remaining energy. “I will be fine once we have cleared the port and are far away from here. It will not be long until they figure out that the real Kera is nowhere near this part of space.”

  “Agreed. Ethan, get us out of here.”

  “Understood.” Ethan informed Brom and Tara that they had been cleared before using his connection with the ship to engage the thrusters. Once they were clear of the station and had jumped into warp, his mind went back to what had occurred. He didn't want to ask her, but his growing curiosity about her was becoming difficult to ignore.

  Hank had returned to the bridge without her, so Ethan surveyed the ship’s sensors until he located her in the corridor leading to her assigned quarters. He turned on the corridor’s visual monitors and watched her for a moment as she walked closer to the door in slow heavy steps, one hand on the wall to her right for support.

  “Are you injured, Orynn?”

  Orynn stopped in front of the door to her quarters, slightly startled by the unexpected voice coming from the com panel to her left. She stared at the com unit, wondering if her tired mind was playing tricks on her. “I am well, Ethan. I am just in need of rest.”

  “Very well, I won’t bother you then.” He reached to turn off the connection.

  “Wait, please.” She gathered herself and drew in a slow breath. Her chest was getting tighter, but this opportunity to communicate with the Mecha could not be wasted. “It is not a bother. Was there something I could do for you?”

  He moved his hand away from the com control. “I w
as just wondering how you were able to change the station’s logs from the Zera to the Kera?”

  She smiled to herself. Hank hadn’t questioned her about that, but she wasn’t surprised Ethan would be curious about her interaction with the station’s central computer. “I did not change the logs. I asked the station’s central computer to change them and it agreed to do so.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “During that short time you were looking at the logs on the tablet?”

  “Yes.” Orynn leaned on her door. She was so tired, but she welcomed the chance to speak with him. She could tell he was still not sure what to make of her, and she truly wanted to clear away the awkwardness she had created between them.

  “I can communicate with artificial intelligence controlled systems much faster than I can speak as I am to you now. Words take so long to form into coherent descriptions and convey whole thoughts compared to the speed of the electrical impulses that create those thoughts in the mind in the first place. It is similar to the way in which my mental and emotional projections work.”

  “I see.” He felt himself leaning forward in his chair as he listened to her describe the way in which she had connected to the AI of the station. He wondered if it would be possible for her to communicate with him in the same way, and if he would be able to stop her if she tried.

  “That brief time allowed me to connect to the central computer and explain the situation.” She paused and gave a soft hint of laughter. “The central computer did not like the Xen'dari soldiers being there either. Something about not following proper docking procedures and interfering with the station’s tight schedule.”

  “Yes, the Xen’dari seem to have that effect on Organics and A.I.s alike.” Ethan’s guard slowly started to dissipate. “One time, I was able to talk an unmanned fuel depot orbiting Merae into changing the mixture it was pumping into a Xen’dari scout ship that had been tailing us. The A.I. was disgruntled because the Xen’dari pilots never paid, and that scout ship ended up dead in space with engine failure somewhere between Corwint and Meris Five.”