Spinward Fringe Broadcasts 1 and 2

by Randolph Lalonde

  “I'll pass. I think I'll have a couple nightmares as it is.”

  “There's a large vessel coming around from the other side of the planet,” Lewis stated.

  Alice looked at the navigation screen and saw it right away. “There's no transponder signal.” She said to herself as she started to activate the cloaking device.

  “It's launching fighters.”

  “So they probably saw us. I'm going manual, activate all weapon and defence systems. Patch the tactical computer into my optical implant.” Seconds after Lewis heard her orders they were carried out and she came about so they were headed towards the nearest moon. It was over five hundred thousand kilometres away.

  Three missile launchers and five guns deployed as the combat shielding came online. The cloaking systems remained on standby, the ship's thermal output was far too high for them to be effective.

  “I have compared the capitol ship's silhouette to our database and found it almost matches a Vindyne design.”

  “It's the VCS Malice, Meunez's ship. I haven't seen it since we stole Jonas's stasis tube. I thought we might be off the hook after Vindyne went under.”

  “Incoming communication.”

  Alice saw that the fighters were still well out of effective weapons range and nodded to herself. “May as well put him through to cockpit audio.”

  “Alice Valent, it's been a long time,” said Gabriel Meunez. She would never forget the sound of his voice. For years she received message after message. He tried every tactic possible to get her to respond just once so he could trace her location or at least have an active dialogue with her.

  “You know, just when you think you've shaken a stalker he just comes right back to haunt you.”

  “That's no way to treat your owner,” he replied with a chuckle.

  It was hard not to cut communications right then, even harder not to fire every weapon she had in his direction, even though she knew it wouldn't make any difference. The moon was still a great distance away and the fighters were still out of effective range. There was time to kill.

  “That's right, I bought your file and several other hidden commodities from Vindyne before they could go up for public liquidation.”

  “I am no one's property,” Alice said through her teeth.

  “On the contrary, your software was redesigned by a captured fugitive, Jonas Valent, and you were born, so to speak, using our systems. The body you use is actually our property as well, a prisoner who was being rehabilitated for our workforce.”

  “Her brain had been ravaged by your machines when I found her. All she had left were fragments of her worst memories, the ones she had the hardest time forgetting. Your systems even marked her as brain dead, but there was a spark left, one your computers couldn't have seen.”

  “You caught her before we started trying to implanting new, better memory fragments. That body's purpose was coming, her brain death was intentional, a new full wipe procedure we were developing. What you used that mind for could only be described as art. The birth of a machine consciousness in a human brain. No one we managed to interrogate had the slightest idea that you were once a computer program. You should have seen the look on Bernice's face, she just couldn't believe it.”

  “You didn't,” she said quietly as she eagerly watched the range count down on the fifteen fighters behind her.

  “Don't worry, we only took them into custody for a couple weeks. After that they were completely unaware of the programmed response we had left in their sub consciousness. They're alive and happy.”

  “Bruce. You did the same thing to Bruce and that's how you found me.”

  “I'm surprised it took you this long to realize.”

  “What do you want?” Alice asked as she turned all the weapon safeties off.

  “I want you to tell me everything you know about how you became what you are. I want to look into your mind and experience the union of the machine and biological mind. You are the only one of your kind in the universe, and I would worship you if you'd only give me the opportunity.”

  “And subject me to invasive scans and neural connections.”

  “Don't answer so hastily, power down and we can consider this together. I bought your file to protect you, to keep you to myself. I have told you before, my mind has had implants that are as much a part of me as my very soul. What do I have to do to for you to see that I only want to join with you, to communicate on a level that only you and I could. I only want to protect you and learn about all that you are.”

  The fighters came within range and she locked onto nine of them. “Here's my response,” she cut her engines, turned the nose of her ship towards the incoming fighters and launched all missiles. As the nine warheads moved off at incredible speed she opened fire. Her neural link with the cannons allowed her to fire on several targets at once, the two pulse cannons fired on one target while the three chain firing gauss guns each raked the others.

  Her hands operated the manual controls as she rolled and strafed, hurtling backwards at the moon behind. Five of the missiles hit their mark and seven fighters were cut to pieces by gunfire.

  She ceased fire, changed her trajectory with her thrusters just enough to make tracking her a little more difficult then engaged the cloaking device. Just as she was about to cut communications and make herself nearly impossible to trace several ships appeared in orbit around the moon. They immediately began pelting the area around her with high velocity flack rounds. There was debris in her path for tens of thousands of kilometres in every direction. She turned her cloaking device off and redirected the power to shields. “Did you ever think that I might be the one you shouldn't catch? I can tell you right now I'm way too much for you to handle.”

  “I'll be the judge of that. Care to power down and allow one of my ships to dock?”

  “You know what? I've had to put up with you sending me thousands of messages, hiring hunters to go after me, kidnapping my friends and you know, I could get away right now, but I'm done. I think it's time you learned your lesson. Go ahead and pick me up. I won't stop you,” she declared as she shut down her engines and retracted all her weapons. “Come get me.”

  The Luck Bucket

  Frost's friend had delivered. Unknown to the Captain, Frost had come to know Aragesh when he did some work for him as a cutter in a group of ship thieves. The reputation he had earned on Ao Katamari was well deserved even though no one actually had concrete proof. Aragesh was an issyrian who like to appear as a tall, statuesque man, perfect black hair and big white teeth included. When he flashed a smile you could see your reflection.

  He had seen the used car salesman character in a movie somewhere and it had appealed to him. Thankfully the cultural reference was lost on all but his closest friends who had seen the old movie with him. As a master of a large used ship yard he did a lot of business in modified transport, small defence craft, cargo haulers and utility ships. Pretty much everything except for fighters and larger military vessels. His placement in orbit around one of the most expensive planets in the sector meant he could jack his prices and trade for high end vessels for much less than they were worth. Everyone who wanted to sell something so close to Ao Katamari was either desperate or in business. As a thriving business person Aragesh always preferred desperate.

  The ship he sold the Captain came at a surprisingly low price. Only three point five million credits, a tenth its value. The only stipulation was that Jake had to have his picture taken by a holo imager with the dealer. Watching his Captain grin from ear to ear as he shook the living caricature's hand had Stephanie in stitches, but to Frost it was somehow eerie.

  Everyone on the bridge of the Luck Bucket knew it was recently stolen. Captain Valance had even let Stephanie name the ship, and knowing it wasn't going to last long she didn't take it seriously. It was an old thirty meter long commercial interplanetary transport. Behind the main four seat cabin there were rows and rows of empty seats. The only benefit to the ship was its engines.
It was fast, not terribly manoeuvrable or durable, but fast. There was no faster than light systems, just an old pair of fusion engines that could channel reactions straight out of the thrusters and generate much more power than the ship needed. The inertial dampeners made an awful whining sound every time Captain Valance accelerated. If the dampeners gave out all three of them would be crushed instantly and Frost found himself praying for the first time in years.

  When they came aboard Captain Valance had done something unusual and loaned him his arm command unit so he could replace his old loose vacsuit with one of the higher tech versions Stephanie and the Captain used. The black suit needed more padding as far as he was concerned, it just wasn't flattering, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He knew it could take a lot more damage than any regular vacsuit could and was thankful for the gift.

  The old, streamlined white and red vessel made the trip in under two hours and as Nissa came into view Frost couldn't help but shudder. Thickly forested planets, especially those with non-plant life on them, were his least favourite places to be. He was always looking over his shoulder for something that was about to leap out and drag him off into the wilderness. “Nothin' but swamp an' the madness that dwells within,” he said under his breath.

  “You're not afraid of a few lizards are ya?” Stephanie teased, she had been doing a lot of that, ever since they rescued him from Nanna.

  “Only if they're big enough to eat me whole. Besides, everythin' down there's camouflaged. You don't see it comin' til it's too late, then you're just gone.”

  “You know, I've never heard of that happening to anyone.”

  “That's because they're not around to talk about it anymore,” he replied as they began entering the atmosphere.

  Stephanie laughed and nodded. “You have a point.”

  The thrusters kicked in for atmospheric manoeuvring, filling the cabin with noise. The trio brought their headpieces up so they could manage the sound and speak through proximity radio. “What's the plan Captain?” Asked Stephanie.

  Even though he had never flown the Luck Bucket before, he handled it expertly. It wasn't so different from the Samson, but Frost was sure there were pretty distinct differences in handling. He was constantly adjusting different controls, it seemed like there was a lot more work involved keeping a smooth, accurate trajectory. He was thankful there was no official port on the planet. Not enough people wanted to live there full time.

  “I've been thinking,” Captain Valance started. “The Samson has anti-theft devices inside. How many people left aboard know how to trigger them?”

  “Maybe five including the leftover boarding crew,” Stephanie replied.

  “Really? Didn't we just train people how to activate those systems?” Frost asked.

  “That was about two years ago. We've lost a lot of people since then.”

  “I didn't realize, time flies.” Frost shrugged.

  “Well, if they can get anywhere near those systems they could help themselves a bit. That really doesn't help us much though. There's not much I can do. Any fight I put up could cost lives, I'll have to surrender myself.”

  “That's your plan? Surrender yourself?” Frost said, shaking his head.

  “It's worked before actually,” Stephanie put in. “When you had to get aboard the Rising Mist. It was the only way to distract the crew so we could sneak in the other way.”

  “I don't think we'll get away with that this time. Instead you'll impersonate me while Frost and I hide.”

  “I'm a little short, don't you think?” Stephanie said in disbelief.

  “You are, but we only need to distract them long enough for me to get in position. I'll be able to act as soon as you're in trouble.” He spotted a clear patch of earth. “Frost, check the density on that area there.”

  Frost scanned the section of ground he was gesturing to and gave it the thumbs up. It was dense enough to support the weight of the craft. “Where will I hide?”

  The ship set down with surprising speed, it didn't entirely seem intentional however, since the rear landing gear creaked so loudly they could hear it through their vacsuits and the Captain winced. As soon as they were down he pulled his sidearm and handed it, handle first, to Stephanie. “You'll find somewhere. If things start going wrong I'll just step out of the shadows and give myself up completely. If things go well we might be able to gain the upper hand and free the crew.”

  “I don't like it,” Frost said as he accepted Stephanie's rifle.

  “You don't have to, you just have to stay out of the way and be ready to help turn the tide,” he replied as he took a small communications and computer module from an inside coat pocket and stuffed it into a hidden fold in his vacsuit. He did the same with a few other very small components, they virtually disappeared on his person, before handing his scarf, long coat and arm command and control unit to Stephanie. “Take care of everything until this is over.”

  “Any tips on impersonating you?” Stephanie asked.

  “Keep your vacsuit faceplate blacked out and the long coat closed.”

  “An' walk around like you own the place,” Frost added with a smile.

  She grinned as she put on his arm command unit, long coat and white silk scarf. “Don't take too long sir, I like the way this fits.”

  Gabriel Meunez

  Gabriel Meunez had waited years to return to the Alice project. He was once an Executive Operations Officer with the Vindyne Corporation. Given great responsibility, a better pay check and access beyond what most could fathom. After Major Hampon had captured Jonas Valent they moved on. He was reassigned despite his protests. An officer with much more influence had requested control of the Valent project.

  Collins. A former general, he was a renowned tactician and was entrusted not only with Jonas Valent's fate but with pursuing the Alice software. He decided to attempt the transfer of a fully formed artificial intelligence to a human host using the information he would gather from Jonas Valent's mind and the scant fragments of Alice left in a massive computer. The problem was Valent's mind was resistant, and the computer core had been stolen along with the last complete imprint of the Alice AI.

  Gabriel found himself reassigned back to rescue, salvage and profit recovery. It was an insult. He knew Alice was in a human host. Most didn't believe him, they thought that the cybernetic implants in his brain, his eyes, his hands and elsewhere had finally driven him to the edge of human reason.

  On record they made him sound half mad, machine obsessed, but to look at him, to know him as a man, there were no visible additions or changes to his body. In fact, he looked more human on the outside than anyone who used wrist computers or dermal attachments to access information and aid them in their work. His frustration was eventually replaced with a renewed resolve. He was denied access to her file, but watched for any information that could lead him to her. One of his processor nodes were always looking across the millions of interconnected networks for her.

  Almost a year later he found something. A ship registered to Alice Valent. She was so far away, it would take him weeks to get there, so he began to send priority messages. Somehow she had the impression that he meant her harm, even though they had never met. The only message he ever received was; 'leave me alone!' That didn't stop him. He repeatedly sent appeals, threats, explanations of why he thought they were the perfect mated pair.

  It only drove her further away until she came for Jake Valance. Under everyone's nose she and her partner, Bernice, made off with his stasis tube and disappeared. To Vindyne fleet security's utter embarrassment they could never explain the entire incident. She had not only been the first artificial intelligence to make the transfer from a digital existence to flesh and blood, she was also capable of so much more than any normal human. Breaching a high security secret Research and Development laboratory was nearly impossible. Getting out alive with one of the most important resources in the entire Company was impossible but there it was, it had been done.

  He con
tinued his search in private. Every spare moment, every extra processor clock cycle and terabyte of excess storage was dedicated to tracking her. Years passed and he was always aware of where she had been no more than two months before. She had gone so far, separated herself from her enemies so well and for a time she had many. It seemed beneath her to do what was common to most as far as occupations were concerned. Rescue missions, smuggling runs, freelance fighter piloting, even the occasional theft was performed for payment. In underground circles she was gathering a reputation for herself, in more legitimate law enforcement data bases she was earmarked as dangerous, not to be trusted and occasionally as a fugitive. He was in awe of her accomplishments.

  At last count three government agencies and nine corporations had charged her with a variety of crimes and most of them gladly contributed to one bounty pot or another. The largest of which was over three million Core World Credits. Vindyne had contributed two thirds of that amount, claiming she was their property. Before they could see the day of her capture their stock crashed.

  The rising expense of running a war on several fronts along with more and more frequent civil uprisings were a large part of their downfall. They had also overextended themselves and were falling out of favour with bigger corporations like Lorander. When the stock was down to a percentage of its former average he took the opportunity to purchase Jonas and Alice Valent's files along with all property associated with it. The ships he commanded were actually stolen from the weak, crumbling Vindyne Corporation. In the end he was only as good as any looter on the street but that didn't matter. He could afford to pay the crew for years to come and there was always work for a small fleet of armed capitol ships.

  As soon as all the materials associated with the Valents were aboard his flagship he made for the last sector Alice had been spotted in and began tracking down her various cohorts. He used Vindyne technology to reprogram who he could with the simplest of subliminal instructions. In the end they suffered through the process of capture, but no long term harm was done. He couldn't allow that, they were almost like family if they were friends to his beloved Alice.