Renosha announced, “All anti-missiles expended. Nine missiles eliminated. It may not be enough.”
The round exploded, spraying flechettes all around, clearing a couple missiles, making a hole in the pattern. The Eye of Orion headed straight for it.
Suddenly the ship slid sideways. A white circle blossomed on the front panel right next to the ship.
“Nuclear blast off our starboard side. Shields at 11.3%,” the science robot said.
Before anyone could respond, Hawking said loudly, “Shields down! Armor plating damaged! Scanners D4, XA7 and U1 are destroyed. Further damage data coming in. We hit a mass of bullets from the Fire Scorpion.”
The mercenary gunners had fired in front of the Eye of Orion, leading it with millions of bullets.
Yuina still fired the rotary cannon, corkscrewing the ship along its forward axis to bring it to bear. Hawking launched decoys and chaff. Renosha now fired real missiles at the trackers. Steo used his hacking applications to disable more.
Still, one missile made it through their defenses. As it approached, it changed its signature to that of the Eye of Orion. Steo couldn’t break into it. Yuina couldn’t bring the rotary cannon to bear in time and Renosha couldn’t fire a missile at it without their own missile possibly turning around on them.
The Spinebreaker hit the side of the Eye of Orion, tearing through the starboard side. The bridge door slammed shut and sealed.
The corvette tumbled, but still moved swiftly forward. The internal gravity controls corrected. Hawking tried to raise shields and managed the self-repair functions.
Yuina slowed the tumbling and they flew through the hole left by the flechette explosion. She fired the engines and bumped the ship off at an angle, just as a second bullet storm appeared where they would have been.
The Eye of Orion flew into the field way too fast.
“Pursue!” Pesht ordered the cutters.
Reports of damage to the Fire Scorpion flooded in. They had blood in their eyes. The flechette explosion had knocked out dozens of systems. The damage was significant, but the destroyer could still fly and fight. Without shields, he had no intention to chase the dogged corvette. Let the cutters earn their pay.
He let the damage control teams do their jobs. Loss of life was low; it was mostly ship damage. He checked the last readings he had before the Eye of Orion disappeared into the graveyard. It had been hit by several missiles, as many as three or four. Plus there were reports that long-range gunfire had actually struck them. There was no explosion, but Pesht knew a mortally injured foe when he saw one.
The battle took over half of the destroyer’s considerable missile stores. The missile cloud was a well-established tactic against nova attacks. Pesht prepared an after-action report for Admiral Slaught. He assumed they would be leaving soon.
CHAPTER 14
Medical Checkup
Cyrus sweated. He had just completed a long distance run on a treadmill. He stepped off and lifted his arms. Small robots circled him, delivering jets of warm, dry air over his bronzed body.
On the other side of the transparent wall, a medical robot said, “Doctor Fector, the subject CM-1 has completed the test.”
“Results?”
The robot didn’t immediately respond. Hack waited. Then Hack looked at it, surprised by the delay.
A moment later it spoke. “Apologies for the delay, doctor. We have confirmed the subject CM-1 has no enhancements. His pace exceeded what was considered naturally possible.”
“So you’re saying he set a record?”
“Species-specific, there is no documented instance of higher foot speed over this distance, unaided by stimulants, conditions or cybernetic enhancements. The subject’s heart rate and metabolism have already returned to normal operating range. The test is not successful.”
“That’s bizarre. Why would you say that? He just proved he’s the fastest human being ever,” Hack said, annoyed.
“Doctor, we did not say the subject failed. The test failed. Your parameters were to test his maximum speed.”
“What are you saying?”
“The subject did not put forth his maximum effort.”
Hack was astonished. Maybe the dead Dr. Spierk was a genius after all.
“Even if we consider that true maximum effort would introduce morbidity risks, subject CM-1 did not approach a practical maximum effort.”
Hack tapped a console to silence the robot. Muscle scans placed Cyrus’s strength in the top 1%. His snap reflexes and conditioning were superior. Now his endurance was proven. Inside the room, Cyrus was holding one of the little robots to dry his hair.
Admiral Slaught entered the medical bay. He glanced through the transparent wall at Cyrus. “Dr. Spierk did something right.”
“I have to admit, it’s impressive.” Hack pressed a button on his console, allowing the robot to speak.
“Thank you, sir. No symbiant has ever approached this level of stability. For all intents and purposes, the subject CM-1 is a perfectly functioning adult man. His growth has stopped. There is no degeneration as seen in older prototypes – the ones who had a time limit before they began to fall apart. In fact he should live a long time before needing repairs; perhaps 120 years before he shows signs of infirmity. With repairs and enhancements his lifespan could be immeasurable by modern standards.”
“What about the other experiments?” Slaught said.
“The subject’s cognitive functions are normal. Our preliminary tests show his intelligence is slightly higher than average. However his adaptation skills are remarkable. Like everything about CM-1, he uses what he’s been given to a better degree than natural humans. His personality is self-assured. He hasn’t spoken of the implanted memories, yet he accepts some things as facts, such as his name.”
“What about the psychological experiment,” Slaught said.
“You mean the Bonding experiment?” Hack said with open disgust. “Personally I think it was a waste of time. The science was faulty.”
“Let it speak,” Slaught ordered gruffly.
“The Parasympathetic Bonding experiment was based on the concept of newborn animals bonding with the first animal they see, nearly always their mother. The newborn would open its eyes and in that moment of great synaptic growth, subconsciously pair-bond with the mother. The premise was that a symbiant could be encoded with the same disposition.”
“I want to know if it worked,” Slaught said impatiently.
“The data from the Vadyanika shows the subject CM-1 was not responding while in cryosleep. Positive memories were hard-coded into his mind. Then he was tested with dreams that contradicted the memories, but he had no reaction. Respiration, pulse rate, blood pressure, skin, muscles, all remained the same. They tried preconditioning, with both subliminal and conscious stimuli. Dr. Spierk and his research technicians received positive but insufficient feedback before the experiment was terminated.”
Terminated, the mercenaries knew, meant someone else had awakened Cyrus before Dr. Spierk was killed.
“So we don’t know if it worked,” Slaught said.
Hack resisted rolling his eyes.
The robot said, “We have no data to determine success or failure, sir.”
“What do you think, Hack,” Slaught said.
“It was always pseudoscience. There are countless reasons why an infant bonds with its mother beyond a nearsighted first impression. Even then, bonding doesn’t mean anything beyond infancy.”
Slaught said, “And yet doctor … here he is.”
Cyrus was dry and had a towel on. He was holding up a vial of milky liquid, tilting it this way and that. If Hack’s heart weren’t mechanical he would have had a heart attack. While Hack quickly ordered robots to gently take the vial of flesh-eating bacteria from Cyrus, Slaught read the data on Cyrus’s physical tests.
“Should I put him in a cell?” Hack said. “Maybe for his own protection?”
“No. Let him move about the ship and learn his new life. Keep a r
obot with him.”
They saw Cyrus was putting on his old clothes.
“Provide robes for him to wear. He may still be able to fulfill his function. I will go to the conditioning center and talk to section chief Kiluth. The honna has ideas about incorporating Cyrus into the mythology we’re building. Councilor Ulay may change from a star messiah to a mere prophet, foretelling the coming of the Chosen One.”
Slaught left. Hack watched as Cyrus explored the room. The robots had thankfully removed the Venicarce vials. Cyrus brought up a hologram from a console. Everything was protected by passwords, so Hack let him play. Cyrus idly toyed with the icons, moving them around randomly and throwing them away when he was bored. Eventually he seemed to tire of that. He dismissed the icons. Cyrus waved and smiled through the one-way wall at Hack, then went and lay down.
CHAPTER 15
Limping Away
The many missiles following them exploded when they crashed into the debris of the graveyard. The shock of the impact threw people around. Hawking flew across the bridge and crashed headfirst into a wall. Yuina barely remained in her seat. Renosha fell under a console.
When he got up he said, “Where is Steo?”
“Go look for him!” Yuina yelled.
Renosha went back to the holobridge and found Steo lying on the floor. The robot checked his vital signs, then returned to the bridge.
“He’s alive but unconscious. It’s down to you and I, Yuina.”
“Okay.”
“We have enough energy for a moderate FTL jump. I’ll get a course plotted in.”
Yuina flew through the graveyard. It was dense here and she sometimes found herself performing rapid course changes to avoid collisions. It wasn’t possible to hit a dead-end, but sometimes a floating junker blocked their way. The cutters couldn’t keep up. They had to maneuver more slowly and carefully.
“The edge of the graveyard is approaching. I don’t want a race in open space,” Yuina said.
“The course is plotted. You may stop and prepare for jump anytime.”
They cleared the field and she brought it to a halt. They had enough energy so they only needed a moment to make the jump. While they waited she said, “I think I’m wiped out.”
“The cutters are nearing the edge of the field,” Renosha said. “They have cleared the field.”
Yuina saw red dots leave the cutters. “Are you going to do anything about those?”
“Nearly ready to jump.”
“Hey those are missiles coming at us!”
Renosha pointed at the bar on her console. It was filled to 100%.
Aboard the cutters, there was angry shouting as the Eye of Orion disappeared from their panels.
Yuina let the ship computer fly. She got out of her chair and went back to the holobridge to check on Steo. He was starting to sit up, with a bump on his head.
“I’m okay. Why aren’t the internal controls stopping the spinning?”
“We’re not spinning, you short-haired, pupil-eyed monkey.” She waved her hand and a chair floated out. She helped him into it.
He relaxed. “I guess we made it away?”
“Limped away is more like it. Flying is about the only thing this ship can do right now.”
Renosha pulled Hawking out of the wall. Hawking’s head was mostly smashed, but his processor was stored in his torso like all other modern robots.
“How is everyone up there?” Governor’s voice said over the ship comm.
Renosha replied, “Alive and well. How is Glaikis?”
“I had her in an independent harness and watched over her so she floated through the battle without losing any sleep. It’s too bad I can’t come up and check on Steo and Yuina.”
Steo heard this and yelled, “Why not?”
“Ah Master Steo, you are able to yell again. That is so nice to hear. However, the corridor between the fore and aft portions of the ship is open to space.”
Steo’s head spun. He thought he heard that his ship was almost cut in two.
CHAPTER 16
Detachments
When the five cutters returned, Bridge XO Pesht gave them permission to cannibalize the other two. A Fire Scorpion technical robot was stationed on each to train and guide them. The robots also sent regular, encoded reports on the cutters’ officers back to Pesht.
Sensors reported several scanners in the region around the AndroVault. Pesht guessed what they were: the missiles fired earlier by the Eye of Orion. They were actually probe drones observing the fleet. Pesht ordered them destroyed.
In a few hours an old friend arrived: the stealth destroyer Dastard. It was mostly crewed by croymids, and a particularly belligerent lot. They had worked for Admiral Slaught before and came when called. The Dastard’s design traded weaponry for advanced shields. It could remain nearly invisible to scanners until it launched a devastating close-range attack. They had enough troops to perform boarding actions as well. Pesht briefed their captain on the plans.
A large freighter was repaired. Only the engines and shields were functional. It had two anti-missile batteries but nothing more. They loaded debris from the graveyard into the freighter’s belly. Small engines were connected to the pieces of debris. They named the ship the Hellbrand. A small crew of human mercenaries manned it and took along a few eager people from the AndroVault. The awakened were assigned simple duties, and a training robot brought them up to speed on modern technology. A child could operate most of it, but more skill was needed to handle critical situations. Even a poorly trained human was better than a robot in a crisis.
Once everything was ready, the AndroVault lumbered out of the graveyard. The other ships pushed wrecks out of the way with tractor beams. Kiluth transmitted a vid to the AndroVault so the thousands of awakened could see their beloved ship come back to life. Once they were free of the graveyard, Councilor Ulay gave a vid-speech. He used the words “freedom” and “destiny” many times to growing applause.
The five cutters left first. Then the Dastard, Hellbrand, Fire Scorpion and AndroVault made the jump. Their destination was Kurzia Station.
Soon, they arrived on the outskirts of the system. The cutters were spread out. No ships were nearby, although there was plenty of traffic elsewhere in the system. They stationed the AndroVault behind a giant ice planet.
Right on time, two other ships appeared and joined the fleet: the missile frigate Tragedy, and the electronic countermeasures ship Cacophony.
Admiral Slaught noted Dr. Fector’s contributions to the assault. He had provided station blueprints and notes for the tacticians. Now he helped the countermeasures team send a long-distance signal that unlocked the cells in the Ribcage. Pirates, criminals and the dregs of the galaxy ran into the corridors. The chaos distracted security forces.
The Cacophony jammed communications, allowing only the fleet’s encoded messages to transmit without interference. They also broke up internal communications on the free station. It was home to pirates, merchants and mercenaries. The attackers didn’t want them joining forces. Vids showed false stories of different sides fighting each other.
The Hellbrand did its duty from a distance. It released the projectiles, chunks of debris fitted with tiny engines, and they flew off toward the station. They continued to gain speed. One at a time they crashed into the station, tearing off compartments that housed hundreds of people. Docking stations were obliterated. A burly knight-mercenary ship and two pirate ships were decimated by the crushing impacts.
Immediately following the rain of debris came a salvo of missiles. The missile frigate Tragedy had more batteries than the rest of the fleet combined. The station had some anti-missiles but they always relied on docked ships to contribute. The governing council assumed an attacker would be of a known faction. Instead, ships streamed away from Kurzia Station. Some had already jumped away.
The governing council transmitted requests for surrender conditions. Admiral Slaught ignored them. His fleet remained silent.
&nb
sp; The Dastard reached the station without resistance. They force-docked, a process where they drilled into the side of the station and inserted troops. Once inside, the berserk croymid mercenaries ran to the points they needed to capture, gunning down all in their path.
The station’s governing council was mainly retired merchant captains. They transmitted a message of unconditional surrender. Boc took charge at that point. He ordered them to lower shields, deactivate missile defenses and prepare for boarding. When that was done, Boc entered Kurzia Station with his men. They left a bloody trail to the homes of the council-members, who were dragged out with their families and executed. Boc’s laughter could be heard all over the station.
Kurzia Station held millions of inhabitants. Admiral Slaught didn’t want to waste time with them. The station’s resources were needed for the AndroVault. The colossal ship was flown to the station for refreshing. They needed a tremendous amount of air. Air-cleaning moss pads were bought in and installed. The awakened people celebrated the greenery.
Seven ships were captured, all with weaponry and defenses. The crews came from the AndroVault. The novorian Readers had gauged those best fit: antagonistic and susceptible to ideas of violence toward aliens. There were more than enough of those.
Lastly, the mercenaries showed aliens captured in the raid. They claimed that they found interspecies married couples and a ship designed to harvest human organs and limbs called the Ribcage. Hack proved himself valuable once again in tracking down aliens and preparing cinematic yet horrifying scenes.
Finally, they showed a captured insectoid alien. His lair was revealed as a storage center for dead human babies. The vid sickened the awakened on the AndroVault. Women fainted at the sight of shelves of mummified babies.
While the fleet refreshed and repaired, the people on the AndroVault rejoiced. Their loved ones were awakened from cryosleep. The estimates were that the fleet would need thousands more soldiers soon.
The fleet stripped the station and nearby wrecks of missiles, ammunition and supplies. The cutters improved their shields and added lasers. Lasers were very expensive and only useful at close range, which is why missiles predominated space combat, but the cutter crews liked how effective one was against the Eye of Orion.
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