by S. H. Jucha
Miriamopus proposed.
* * *
“We’ve received reports of another race’s battleship fleet that has sailed,” Julien said to Alex Racine.
The group was staring at a holo-vid, representing a great number of the federacy’s stars. It represented an enormous swath of space, the likes of which boggled human imaginations.
“Any data on directions?” Tatia Tachenko, the Omnian fleet admiral asked.
“By all reports, this one is sailing past the wall toward our worlds,” Julien replied.
“That’s if these verbal communications are to be believed,” Reiko Shimada, the Trident vice admiral grumbled.
“Admittedly, these reports aren’t hard data,” Julien allowed, “but the lifting of Artifice’s codes from many systems has earned us enormous goodwill, and races are anxious to reward us with accurate information.”
“Captain Descartes did say that the Nua’ll sphere was performing a thorough job when it came to removing the codes from every device in a system,” Franz Cohen, the fighter admiral noted. He shared a couch in the Freedom’s owner suite with his partner, Reiko, who was taking advantage of the downtime to be close to him.
“If this newest information is to be believed, that’s a total of three fleets that have crossed the wall in search of new colonies,” Renée de Guirnon, Alex’s partner, commented. “I wonder how far they’ll sail,” she mused.
Alex was staring fixedly at the holo-vid. The frustration was evident in his face. “We should have put up a sign,” he ground out. He glanced around at the confusion on everyone’s face. “A big sign … on the wall … no trespassing,” he said.
It should have been funny, but no one was laughing. Fleet resources were thin, which pinned them in place to protect the Talus system.
“We had no choice, Alex,” Julien said. “Artifice was the greater danger, and it was with great fortune and the assistance of other races that we were able to capture the entity.”
“I agree with Julien,” Tatia added. “And we have to be patient, while we fortify Talus, resurrect the Toral infrastructure, and guide the Toralians and the Sisterhood in forming their new society.”
“Where do we stand on the transition of sisters to avatars, Mickey?” Alex asked, abruptly switching subjects.
“The sisters have been removed from every Omnian ship and transferred to Toral, Alex,” Mickey Brandon, the fleet’s chief engineer replied. “But if you’re asking about the status of avatar adoption, I’ve no idea. I had to admit to being incapable of managing the sisters’ requests. I thought turning the process over to Miriam and Luther would work, but they gave up too.”
When Alex frowned at his friend, Mickey added, “It’s not as bad as it sounds. After Artifice was defeated, Z, Miranda, and Claude Dupuis oversaw the construction of a huge shop, complete with foundry, near the bot army’s remains. They guided the sisters in the design and fabrication of bots, which can create avatars and transfer kernels. Then they turned everything over to the sisters.”
“How’s that going?” Renée asked.
“It’s impossible to say,” Mickey replied. “The sisters trade avatars like we discard cards in a poker game. It’s gotten so complex that the teams patrolling for renegade bots have to query every device, so they don’t fire on a sister.”
“Oh … so they haven’t much use for human-appearing avatars,” Renée said in surprise.
“Not for now, anyway,” Mickey replied.
“I understand some of the Toralians aren’t pleased by that,” Franz offered.
“We stay out of it, as much as possible,” Alex interjected. “They’re going to have to work that out among themselves.” He glanced briefly at Julien, who took the hint.
Turning to Reiko, Alex asked, “Status on the orbital station?”
“I toured it two days ago,” Reiko replied. “The construction arm’s newest bay is online. The second Trident will be completed within days, as will the ninth traveler.”
“And the naval training?” Tatia asked.
“Going smoothly,” Franz replied, grinning. “Every Toralian wants to fly our ships. Those who get the opportunity work their wings off to prove their worth.”
“Julien, when do we expect the Toralian governors?” Alex inquired.
“According to President Sargut, the governors should be arriving in seven to eleven days, depending on the distance they’ve had to sail,” Julien replied.
“What is it?” Alex queried. He’d played too many poker hands with Julien not to notice subtle tells in the SADE’s voice.
“Sargut evinces no concerns about the governors’ visits,” Julien replied. “He feels confident in his claim on the home world and the new constitution he’s signed with the sisters.”
“But?” Alex pursued.
“Commander Taralum and Liaison Suntred don’t exhibit the same assuredness about the governors’ arrival,” Julien replied.
“What’s the issue?” Mickey asked.
“Historically, when the Toralians claimed new territory, it was because they were founding new colonies,” Julien explained. “There is no precedent for reclaiming the home world.”
“What do Taralum and Suntred think the governors will try to do?” Tatia asked.
“That’s the problem,” Julien answered. “They’re uncertain, but they point to the fact that the governors are powerful Toralian leaders.”
“And they’re more important than a mere fleet commander,” Tatia finished.
“That seems to be the case,” Julien admitted.
“How are they expected to arrive?” Reiko asked.
“If you’re asking about the size and number of the ships that will accompany a governor, Reiko, that is unknown too,” Julien said. “Before now, governors traveled between colonies. These particular individuals have never visited the home world, and you can imagine why they haven’t.”
“That means we don’t know whether they’ll arrive in some sort of liner, a battleship, or a fleet,” Reiko concluded, and Julien nodded his assent.
“We do have a significant concern about the governors’ visits,” Julien said. “I understand from Taralum that the governors will demand a visit to the mound with Sargut present. It has something to do with affirming his Change.”
“I thought the Change was evident in various ways,” Alex said. “That’s what I understood from Taralum that day on the mound.”
“If I interpreted Taralum’s concerns properly,” Julien said, “the visit to the mound might be when the governors show their hands.”
“Meaning that if they wish to challenge Sargut’s authority, that’s the place to do it,” Alex finished.
“That’s how I read it,” Julien affirmed.
“Which brings up another problem,” Franz said. “That area still has thousands of active renegade bots that were too small to make the journey to join the army at the polar region, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. Furthermore, we don’t know how long the governors intend to sit out there in the open, much less what sort of security they’ll bring.”
“The answer to the last part is none,” Alex said firmly. “The governors will be transferred from their ships in Talus travelers.”
“With Toralians acting as crew,” Tatia said, grinning, and Alex nodded, a smirk at the corner of his mouth.
“Furthermore, we’ll provide the security,” Alex added. “We don’t need trouble to start from any quarter and have to worry about foreign security.”
“It’s too bad that we can’t shut down Artifice’s code in the renegade bots,” Renée lamented.
Except for Renée, the group glanced at Alex. The remaining bot army couldn’t be shut down because it operated on comm levels that only Artifice could access. Not even the Nua’ll comm sphere was capable of doing it. The bots had been Artifice’s last line of defense, which the Dischnya had penetrated. Shutting down th
e bots would require giving Artifice access to an antenna, which Alex had forbidden. It was a decision with which everyone agreed.
“We should deploy security at the mound now to clear the bots,” Alex said. He focused on Tatia, and said, “The Dischnya with plasma rifles, Miranda and Z in augmented avatars, and travelers in overwatch.”
Tatia nodded briskly and sent various orders via her implant.
“Who are acting as liaisons for the sisters with Sargut?” Alex requested.
“One individual,” Julien replied. “The sisters have gravitated toward Miriamette. I did suggest to her that she would accomplish more housed in a human-appearing avatar for her meetings with Sargut, the Toralian commanders, and Suntred. I’m pleased to say that she adopted my recommendation. It was better than her greeting them on the planet in the construction bot she often occupies.”
“What image did she choose?” Alex asked, and Julien sent him a vid of Miriamette’s avatar. Alex examined it in his implant and shook his head in resignation.
“My partner appears reluctant, Julien; please share with the group,” Renée requested.
When Renée received the image, she laughed and remarked, “She could be my sister.”
Alex grumbled, and Renée patted his arm sympathetically. She sent privately,
Alex didn’t share Renée’s opinion, and he was afraid to voice his own.
Alex’s mouth curled in a smile at the mention of Hector’s assumed title, and his audience relaxed seeing his grimace disappear.
Alex sent,
In turn, Alex linked with those in the suite.
Tatia replied.
Alex grinned, and then his laughter slipped out. Hector lived for these moments, when he could surprise humans, especially Alex and his senior staff.
Hector explained.
Julien shifted the holo-vid image to display Talus, the wall, the water world system, and Omnia.
Hector replied. He knew the information wouldn’t please Alex, Ser, and the senior staff, but they needed to know that human ships were ignoring the federacy’s dangers.
Alex was quiet, while he thought. The governors’ visit nagged at him, and he decided to embrace it.
Alex’s statement would have been enough to fully capture his staff’s attention, but the power of his sending put them on alert.
Renée was disappointed at the delay in seeing her son, but if Alex sensed trouble, she wanted Teague and Ginny nowhere near it.
-10-
Governors
Beryl’s strident request required Cordelia to immediately pass it to Alex, des
pite the late hour.
Cordelia’s ping snapped Alex’s eyes open. After hearing the request, he sent,
Beryl replied.
Alex asked, sitting up in bed and gathering his wits.
Alex focused on the battleship’s details. Beryl and the other scout ship SADEs had provided estimates of the ship’s dimensions.
Alex checked his chronometer. It would soon be time to rise, and after morning meal he was due to meet with some of his staff, the Toralians, and Miriamette on the construction arm of the orbital station.
Realizing sleep wouldn’t return, Alex rose, took a long refresher to think, dressed, and met with Julien and Cordelia on the Freedom’s bridge.
More data was available from the scout ship. The SADEs had chosen to make a close pass on the battleship.
Seeing Alex wince at the scout ship’s risky maneuver, Cordelia said, “The SADEs determined that if this battleship was an interloper, it was better to know its capabilities sooner rather than later.”
“I’m curious to know if Sargut is aware of this class of battleship,” Julien said, and Alex tipped his head in agreement.