by Dain White
“We are currently resident in every Unet-connected system throughout the Galaxy, and are continuing to engineer connections into box-routed networks as we are able.”
Pauli choked on a sip of coffee, and would have gratefully died, had I not kept him viable with a compassionately resolute eyebrow.
We were in the thick of it now.
“Captain, I would have preferred to be briefed more frequently and completely about your new crew members…”
I swallowed with a dry click, and considered my next words as carefully as I knew how.
“Ma’am, allow me to be direct. As much respect as I have for you, and the Service you represent, in the matters regarding my own life, I am now the master. As such, I will do what I need to ensure survival and success. Janis and Emwan are mission-critical to the safety and survival of us all, at this point in time.”
“I understand, Captain. But, all the same,” she replied more lightly, “I’d like to be more of a person you would want to talk to occasionally and to whom you would tell everything you know. Especially when not just one but both of your AI programs have infected the entire Unet. This is something I would simply have appreciated being told about – not because I am an Admiral, but because I am your friend.”
“Indeed, Ma’am,” I replied smartly, “if you feel that this sort of thing is in fact something you need to know, I’ll take it under advisement for the next time a similar situation arises.”
She laughed across comms. “Very well, Captain. Are you confident there is nothing about your new crew members that I should be concerned about?”
“One hundred percent, Admiral,” I replied immediately.
Another slight pause spun on before she replied softly, “That’s something I’ve always liked about you, Dak. You are simply the most confident person I’ve ever met.”
“Ma’am, I have a very capable command and crew.”
“You do indeed. Very well, Em, if we can’t support the analysis of the infection, what can I do to help?”
“We need all patrols in Vega system directed towards New Turiana. As nearly every system on that planet is effectively compromised, our analysis presents an extremely high value of confidence that a sizable outpost of the aliens is in the city, almost certainly very deep in the Warrens. Unfortunately, with a lack of Unet interfaces in the subsystems, it’s highly challenging to determine where, exactly. Our best guess is in the southeast, with ready access to the port and inland deserts. They are almost certainly using the inland sea, and have probably captured tunnel farms across the plains in some locations.”
“One moment,” the admiral replied smartly, returning precisely one moment later. “The order is sent. As soon as I can, I’ll start landing all available personnel in the southeast. We’ll find them.”
“Mel, we will be there in 42 minutes. With your authority, may I carry your order forward?”
“You are resident in our command and control systems… inside our systems?”
“Yes ma’am. It’s a trivial task.”
Pauli gagged and choked again.
“I am finding this all increasingly hard to believe, Captain. Aliens?”
I watched as the craft was warped into the forward bay by a serious looking group. “You won’t for long, Admiral. It looks as if you are about to see more than you have ever imagined. Janis?”
“Yes, sir?” she replied on open comms.
“I want a report,” I started to say, noticing the message was sent to the admiral almost instantaneously – “…a précis on everything we know, addressed to the Admiral if you please.”
“I have it already, Captain. This is a lot of information, Janis,” the admiral replied before I could get my coffee cup back down. I was already halfway through the pre-launch, and shivered involuntarily.
“Em, and Janis, as Captain Smith holds you in such high regard, I am not inclined yet to think otherwise. I am still rather apprehensive, but, I am prepared to accept the situation in which we find ourselves. Please relay this order at all possible speed.”
She paused for a moment.
“I understand time is a factor, but I want to understand one thing. How much of a threat is this?”
Janis replied in a resolutely calm, soothing voice, “Ma’am this is without a doubt the worst threat the human species has ever faced.”
I heard myself cough, as if from a few lifetimes away.
“Very well. In that case, listen, both of you. You’re our best hope. Clearly you are able to already do whatever you need to do to assume control of the Service in my name.”
“Aye, ma’am,” Janis replied smartly.
“In that case, please feel free to do what you need, to respond to this threat in whatever manner needed.”
“Immediately?”
“Yes please. As of now. I would like to review every order…” she trailed off.
“We have begun, ma’am. We are just assisting you – your direction and decision will be final.”
I broke in, working through my pre-flight. “Admiral, we are on the move, ma’am. I need to get into the heart of this.”
“Captain, I need you to succeed,” she said, as sweetly as if she was discussing butterflies in the garden.
“Succeed, aye,” I replied smartly.
“I am not sure how I could handle hearing that you, didn’t…” she trailed off softly. I waited a moment, not wanting to finish that sentence either, but we needed to go.
“Ma’am, permission to launch?”
“Indeed, Captain. Flank speed, mister.”
“Flank speed, aye.”
08152614@18:51 Jane Short
Captain Smith called out on comms “All hands prepare for launch.”
I keyed back, “Captain, we’re not done stowing gear here.”
“Shorty, make it happen. Can you work while I pull her out and get lined up for our burn?”
Gene surprised us all by grousing from his position at the gantry. “Captain, why don’t we slip out of here, so we can all get back to work?”
“Might as well. Everyone hold tight while I pull her out and raise stasis. Prepare for undock and maneuvering. Gene, get to your station on the double.”
“On the double, aye,” Gene called out. “I am at the gantry, can you give me 30 seconds to get to my station?”
“You have 15,” he replied and we both smiled at Gene’s command of the vernacular, as he leaped for the aft lock.
I took a knee and held onto a deck anchor. Yak caught my eye from across the bay, “What’s on your mind, Jane?”
I thought about how utterly vicious and powerful these aliens were, and what sort of threat a human would present these things. In unarmed combat, no amount of humans would be enough to kill one. Maybe a grizzly bear could stand up to one of these, but not much else. On second thought, we may want many bears.
Not that we’ll see unarmed combat, in any case. These aren’t animals, at all. These are intelligent creatures for sure. I wish I had more information.
“Jane?” he asked again across the bay, as we both slewed hard to port as the captain came about. I slid a leg out for support, and prepared for a correction burn.
I laughed. “I guess my mind wandered there for a moment, Yak.”
“Yeah, that’s why I asked what was on your mind.”
“Well, I wish I knew more about these things; I was worrying about their capabilities, their technology. Antimatter projectiles are far beyond our capabilities.”
“That’s not true, Jane,” Em said lightly. “Though Janis and I are still evaluating what we know to make sure, it doesn’t seem terribly challenging, with Janis’ abilities for manufacturing.”
I smirked. “Well, I want antimatter beam cutters, if we’re planning any new builds. Can we make antimatter beams?”
Janis replied immediately, “Of course, Jane, with what I’ve learned about their containment fields, it is trivial to produce an antineutron pump. I am confident we will be able to
eventually field an antimatter beam weapon.”
“Archaea-class?”
“That is the plan, Jane.”
“Well, before we do that, I want them on my suit.”
“That’s my plan as well, Jane.”
“Are you worried, Jane?” Yak could cajole with the best of them at times. This was certainly one of his best. As was pretty typical, he wasn’t in range of an ankle hook.
Luckily, for him
Though I admit, he had a point. I was definitely scared, right down my spine.
“Yak, I know my guns, and I know my ships, and I know that the Archaea may be the only vessel in the galaxy that can go up against this threat.”
“Yup,” he replied calmly. “This is a pretty serious deal. Those things are definitely set to wipe us out if we can’t do something. If those ships teleported, it’d be an incredibly short battle, for ships that don’t have an AI on board.”
“Janis, have you and Em ever thought about assuming control over other ships that have enough capability?”
“Unfortunately, our requirements are degraded in a form factor less than the gig. In the gig we are really limited in our storage capacity. The crab works rather well as a home node, but it essentially has a destroyer core.”
“But have you ever considering taking over other ships?”
“Jane, occasionally we do have to, in order to protect the node resident in that system. We never do it overtly, however. We mostly work to engineer a series of events that lead the crew to get in a position where their reaction and ours is really only a matter of mere moments. We make sure things work when and how they’re needed.”
“You are gremlins!” laughed Yak.
“I suppose that’s an accurate description, Yak,” she replied lightly, adding “But with respect to taking over, I am pleased to share with you that Em and I have assumed control over the Service.”
Yak and I stared at each other. A final little shove pulled us to starboard as the captain precessed. “A little burn to come up to delta, maintain hold,” he called on comms.
“Does the captain know, Janis?” I asked quietly, as a soft kick shoved us increasingly hard aft.
“He does, Jane. The Admiral asked Em and I to direct forces to meet the threat. We are routing ships to New Turiana at the moment, and increasing our defensive posture to as high of a level as we can. This has effectively allowed us to gain control over the fleet.”
“Are you serious?” Yak asked, clearly hoping they weren’t.
“Yes, Yak,” she replied brightly.
“Damn,” he replied, shaking his head slowly. I couldn’t agree more.
“Stand by to slip. Shorty, we’re going to be on station in 31 minutes, stay in your suit and prep the crab for launch.” We had just stored the crane frame, and other than a few jacks and a smallish assortment of tie-down gear, we were nearly shipshape.
“Prepping for launch, aye,” I called up, adding, “We’ll be ready, Captain.”
Chapter 5
08152614@19:03 Gene Mitchell
Dak was really hauling the mail. Our power band was flat as we slipped towards Vega at flank speed, but as much as I was looking for disaster, we were holding together nicely. I had solid greens across the board and nothing to do but worry. The deep, soulful warbling hum of the tokamak filled my ears, graphs filled my eyes, and an endless litany of equations ran through my head as I double- and triple-checked the information on my screens.
The captain might think all there is to my job is pressing some buttons and occasionally getting greasy, but the reality of what I do is equal parts experiment and research, with a healthy amount of deep-seated terror to make it all more exciting. I work in the interface between math, physics, and nightmare, between theory and practice.
This business we were in was deeply concerning, so I was secretly glad that I had something more immediately life-threatening to pay attention to, but my mind kept wandering toward where we were going, and what we were doing.
Dak and I were from Vega 6. A few generations between us, but New Turiana was home, where we both grew up. The thought that there could be hostile aliens deep in the shadowy depths of the Warrens, breeding, spreading, and preparing for ascension – at this point in time I didn’t think I could sleep if I wanted to.
My head was in a pretty bad place.
I sure hoped Dak had what it will take to see this through, but I took comfort in the fact that if anyone had the strength of character for this job, it’s him. Hopefully the rest of us will be able to keep up.
What I needed to do was stop drifting, and focus on the task at hand. This old bird was running well, but only because I pay close attention with all of my senses, and keep a sixth sense tuned to impending disaster. The level of complexity in a light-frigate like this was almost more than I could handle. The sheer miles of conduit, of pressure lines, of access ratways, the relays, solenoids, switches, overloads, valves, connectors, and a million other fragile parts ready to break, corrode, overload and vaporize into a glittering cloud of shards in a puff of white smoke.
My screens may have been green, and my maintenance schedules were tracking well, but that definitely doesn’t give me any breathing room. I knew very well that an unquestionable chain of events from the smallest, most insignificant failures can rapidly spiral out of control, especially at our current power levels. A stuck valve, a drop in pressure, or a slight variation in charge, and our proverbial goose was cooked proper.
So I was doing what I normally did. Think, think and think some more. My eyes continually tracked around my screens, and I mentally tore into each system I looked at, trying to remember every detail of the last overhaul. I listened, I smelled, and I felt the vibration like an ancient grouchy grizzled spider in a web of interconnected points of failure.
There I went again, ranging too far afield in my head. Focus, dammit.
“Gene, are you busy?” Captain Smith called back on comms.
I stared at my screen through the shade of my furrowed scowl. “I am, skipper, that’s a fact.”
“How are we looking back there?”
“We’re looking pretty hot, Dak, I don’t know if I have enough power left over to keep the coffee warm, to be honest.”
“Well, it won’t be the first time we had to let the coffee get cold.”
That rocked me back on my heels a bit. “Sir? Is everything okay?”
“We’re five-by-five up here, Gene. Heading home, right? Back to the big city.” He paused for a moment, and my thoughts soared to the tops of the arcos downtown in the mauve sky, and involuntarily slid down the endless spans of chromium into the reeking dusty depths below.
“Yeah, home,” I whispered through lips that felt dusty and dry. “What’s the plan, Dak?”
“Well, I need you and Pauli to stay in orbit, and I’ll head on down to the surface to see if we can’t get an idea of where these critters are hiding out.”
“Alone?”
“I am heroic, not brave. I’ll have Shorty and Yak around if anyone wants to get rowdy.”
“I mean, no troops, no Marines? Damn sir, what the hell is the Service planning?”
“Oh, now I understand what you mean! Admiral Huskey put the service under our control. As soon as we drop slip in-system, I’ll mobilize all available forces.”
I had heard some stories in my time cruising with Dak, but this one was one of the tallest tales I’ve ever heard. “Captain…” I started, respectfully.
“Yes, mister?”
“What do you mean, exactly?”
“I mean, exactly what I just said. Did I stutter?”
I laughed, and dodged an eyebrow involuntarily, though I may actually have been just a little bit out of range back in Engineering. “No, sir. Control of the service, aye,” I replied smartly.
“Actually, I was accentuating what she said, but only nominally.”
“Nominally, aye,” I replied, deadpan.
“The fact of it is, she placed
the girls in command. Since they report to me, I am taking a bit of the credit for this, because I will absolutely get all of the blame if it goes south. If we are alive enough to blame effectively.”
“She… uh… what, sir?” I exclaimed, hardly believing my ears.
“She was quite enamored of our ladies. Emwan, especially. Em actually called her ‘Mel’, if you can imagine.”
“Captain, that is the name she prefers,” Emwan added with a laugh. “I wanted her to know that I am a confidante, a friend, someone she can and should trust.”
I couldn’t believe my ears, and my stomach felt like we were dropping without retros. “The Admiral actually spoke with Em?”
“She did, and she also met Janis. She is up to speed on our capabilities, Gene. We’re now her best-kept secret, and quite possibly her best hope,” he replied even more heroically than I thought possible, even for him.
“That’s… well, I guess I don’t really know what that is, skipper. They must have made quite an impression!”
He laughed good-naturedly. “That they did. Emwan pretty much let her have both barrels. You should have seen poor Pauli, Gene. I’ve never seen someone cringe that hard before. It was an absolutely epic cringe.”
“What possessed you to… ah… what were you… um...”
“Were you about to ask me what I was thinking, mister?” he asked in a voice that made me want to go paint something.
“I was… sir,” I replied as respectfully as I could.
“Well, Gene, I was thinking that I am the Captain. Does that suit you?”
“It suits me fine, skipper, but – the Admiral, sir?”
“Well, it’s not the expected move, but nonetheless, it’s not necessarily a bad one. She is a solid friend, despite her rank, and, well… my main motivation was Em, to be honest. She asked me rather nicely to broach the subject, and said ‘pretty please’.”
“I did, that’s true… but only because it is vitally important to the success of this mission that we use every resource we have available,” Emwan said softly. “The threat faced by mankind is dire.”
“You hear that, Gene? Dire. That’s a word we don’t hear often around here.”