“Take us down,” Steo said.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “Atmosphere is one thing. Under water is another.”
Hawking said, “The Eye of Orion can easily handle the pressure of the deepest ocean. It was built to handle atmospheres of any density.”
Steo said, “It’s okay, Y-fly. We don’t want to move quickly but Hawking will watch the shields. They’ll hold.”
“Okay, in we go.” She lowered the ship slowly. Her greatest concern was that a sudden movement would snap off the ventral fin, but with the shields up they were encapsulated in a safe bubble.
As they submerged Steo said, “The systems here believe we are a lafiou ship. I’ve engaged the Shipwright process to restore the Eye of Orion, but honestly I don’t know if it still works.”
“I think it works,” Yuina said, her mouth agape.
A large blip appeared on their scanners, moving toward them. It was bigger than the corvette by far. It resolved into a slow-moving, massive submarine of sorts. As it approached it slowed down and stopped.
“Tractor beam,” Yuina said.
They were pulled ever so carefully into the larger ship. The interior wasn’t lit and the Eye of Orion’s lights didn’t go far in the mineral-laden water.
Steo said, “I think it’s safe to lower the shields, Yuina.”
She did, with a look of doubt. The hull held.
A swarm approached them. It was made up of tiny robots, multi-legged creatures with oblong bodies. Each was about the size of a household pet. They moved to the Eye of Orion and gently landed on its skin. They acted as if blind, scuttling all over the surface, touching everything. Some left and returned a bit later carrying plates and rods. They crafted repairs for the gaping hole on the starboard side first.
“Our scanners are working sir and I am connected to the repair robots so I can apprise you of their progress,” Hawking said. “The materials aren’t as strong or light as those we use today but they are perfectly functional and won’t need to be replaced later.”
For the next few hours the robots rebuilt the structure of the ship, drilling and welding. When the outer hull was sealed, the ship immediately vented the water. The bridge door opened.
Hawking said, “Sir there is a line of robots near some of our bays.”
Steo checked the exterior views.
“I think they want in.” He hit a button and the bays opened. Water flooded into them. The little robots entered and began work.
Yuina saw on her console what they were doing. “They’re installing ammunition. It’s good, looks like a perfect match. The missiles aren’t bad either.”
Steo reprogrammed the missiles to bring their software up to modern standards. Then he searched in the Shipwright system. The lafiou had old technology. He requested some of that.
“The sensors have been mended or replaced. The lafiou sensor technology was quite advanced, on par with what we have today. Sensors at 119%,” Hawking said.
Yuina cast a glance at him.
“In comparison to the Eye of Orion’s factory capabilities,” Hawking added.
“Hey … uh … Steo,” Yuina said. “Our compact robot friends are bringing out some bigger objects.”
“That’s my order. I applied for their best weaponry, which is pretty old.”
“Is it as old as Renosha?”
“No, but don’t underestimate the power of forgotten technology,” Steo said.
They loaded long missiles and placed some boxes in the kinetic cannon’s bay. After hours of sitting still in the dark chamber, the small robots formed into a swarm and swam off into the darkness.
“Analysis?” Steo asked.
“Our engines have a strange new function,” Renosha said. “Instead of drawing gravitons evenly from all directions, they can be directed to draw from specific directions. It could be a useful ability. Hm. I will explore this further.”
“I don’t know what the big missiles are, but they are launched out of the bays, not the weapon pods. It looks like they’re carrier missiles. You load them with smaller ones,” Yuina said.
“The hull of the ship will look different than you remember it, sir,” Hawking said.
“Is it still green and gold?” Steo worried that after repeated repairs the ship was starting to look like a wreck.
“Yes sir, but it has been thickened.”
“With what material?”
“Molecular robots, sir.”
“I thought those were only used for surgery and cybernetic enhancements!” Yuina said.
“Our armor has been embedded with them,” Hawking said.
“For what purpose?” Steo asked.
“The armor is self-repairing now.”
Steo scanned the boxes that were loaded on board. “Some of the boxes contain those tiny repair robots. That’s convenient.”
“Incoming message,” Hawking said.
“Really?” Steo said.
The front panel came alive. A lafiou face with gray skin and antlers appeared. It spoke. A new application by Hawking allowed it to be understood.
“Is your ship repairs complete? Is more assistances required?”
“Yes, we are complete.” Steo hit a couple buttons on the console nearest him. “I sent a completed record for the repair request.”
The lafiou tilted its head forward and shook its antlers.
“Is that a no?” Yuina said.
Renosha said, “Earlier it meant hello. I believe that is also their way of saying goodbye.”
The communication ended.
Hawking said, “The Eye of Orion is as good as new, Master Steo. Perhaps better.”
“I’m not,” Glaikis said from behind them.
She had her left arm wrapped and in a sling, and bad bruises up and down her neck, chin and face.
“Welcome back!” Steo said.
Yuina jumped up and ran to her. “Are you good to be up? Should you be walking around? What did Governor say?”
“He said I’m fine, girl. I’m wearing a comfort harness as added protection against shakes and shocks. Am I safe in assuming there will be more shakes and shocks?”
“I want to go back and get him,” Steo said.
“I knew you couldn’t leave a man behind,” Glaikis said.
CHAPTER 18
Compliance & Complicity
Admiral Slaught held a staff meeting. Unlike some high-ranking officers, he often oversaw battles as well as the logistics leading up to them.
Keeping the defectives and aliens apart was becoming a chore. Some officers counseled letting the aliens out of their contracts. Others broached the idea of revealing them to the defectives. Instead two communications networks were established: one for the defectives, and another for the mercenaries and their alien allies.
The target had been selected: the Veert Commonality, a well-defended system on the inner edge of the Percaic spiral arm. The seventh planet was a port of call for many merchant vessels. Their large warehouses stored everything from industrial-sized diamonds used for machinery to ultra-rare metals needed for delicate electronics.
“A rich prize,” Slaught said.
Pesht, Boc and the tactical team provided a detailed plan of attack. Their now-sizeable fleet would sweep away space vessels, then large units of defectives would be shuttled to the surface to capture warehouses. They identified targets across the continents and calculated how many soldiers would be needed. An armory vessel called the Scale had joined them, providing thousands of small arms and equipment. The Scale was a factory ship, with the resources to build almost anything.
Leech said, “Success depends on having an army of tens of thousands of soldiers.”
The robot that represented the tactical section said, “Correct. Tactical estimates 84,000 soldiers will be needed to storm the warehouses, whether located in cities or in independent facilities.”
Leech sneered. “We have only a few thousand true soldiers.” He turned to the section chief Kiluth. “You e
xpect to mobilize the defectives as an army?”
“I know it,” Kiluth said.
“Theories aren’t knowledge the last time I checked, honna. You made a mistake once because you’re sexless. How many more mistakes will you make?”
“I am certain.” Kiluth’s experience working with novorians made him particularly skilled at hiding his emotions.
The retainer robot persisted. “An army is only effective if it is obedient.”
“The subjects are already dependent upon us. We have locked them into our way of thinking with fear of the unknown. We have motivated them with the possibility of paradise. Victory celebrations have followed battles with little cost. Their youth voluntarily committed to the cause and their leaders followed.”
“I asked about obedience. How will you get them to follow orders?”
“They are already obedient. Their society is respectful of their leaders, who have proven their purity. Our advantage lies in only needing to manipulate their leaders. Their ability to resist is compromised. We are the experts. Everything they know comes from us.”
Leech protested. “The cultural history of this group, the Exceptionalists, demonstrates that they will reject a hierarchical leadership who doesn’t follow their values. You are an enemy to them.”
“They don’t know I exist. The implementation of the prophet Councilor Ulay and the star messiah Cyrus Majeure will convince them that the true faith is alive, that we hold to the Old Ways. The subjects don’t have to conform to us. We need to appeal to them. Much like the leaders followed the youth, we must appear to follow.”
Kiluth addressed the group. “If I may: this homogenous monoculture rejects difference. It revels in conformity. If they believe its leaders follow the rigid belief system, the leaders need to be neither competent nor moral. The masses will overlook anything. I predict they will overlook this attack as a necessity along a path of destiny.”
Leech said nothing. He faced Admiral Slaught. No one else said anything yet.
Realizing the staff waited for his robotic verdict, Leech finally said, “I reserve judgment.”
CHAPTER 19
Flawed Servants
Muuk walked past men who casually touched their left shoulders with their right hands. It was a signal that everything was going according to plan. His route took him through quiet sections of the generation ship. Eventually he passed through a bulkhead with men on either side, into a small room. The other four Reminders were there, plus another man.
“Are we watched?” Muuk said with a scowl.
“There are no cameras or listening devices,” Erps said.
“We have made sure no signals can leave this room, and the walls are impenetrable,” Kinch said.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with. Wilp, you called the Reminders here. What do you want to tell us?”
The man was not a Reminder. He said in a respectful but urgent tone, “Things are not what they seem. The soldiers are mercenaries, not rebels. They choose a life of war and destruction, for profit. Their leader is a mystery but is somehow tied to Councilor Ulay. That is who found us and began waking us.” Wilp bit his fingernails.
Muuk’s expression was indifferent. “They value soldiers as we do. Is that it?”
Wilp took a deep breath. “They work with aliens.”
“We have seen no such thing, Muuk,” Limax said. “Though some have overheard that other vessels in the fleet have alien crews.”
“Secondhand hearsay? Rumors? Kinch, put us in a proper mind. Tell us what the Old Ways tell us of gossip-mongering,” said Muuk.
Kinch said, “Dishonor is worse than death, and speaking untruths is dishonorable.”
“I think they willingly work with aliens! You must believe me!” Wilp said.
“Perhaps they use them as slaves,” Doib said.
“They don’t follow our traditions at all! They’re no better than Appreciators! We left Alpha Centauri to form a pure society!” Wilp said. “How can we trust them?”
Muuk gestured for him to lower his voice. “We have limited time Wilp. Do you have anything more?”
“They have female mercenaries and allow them to work alongside the men,” Wilp said.
“Possibly out of necessity,” Doib said. “It may be unorthodox, but with our strength added to theirs, the women will soon be gifted with their true positions.”
Wilp sputtered, “Reminders, please listen. Our mission is to escape a mixed-species way of life. We are human Exceptionalists! I don’t believe that these mercenaries are!”
Limax said, “Wilp, do you know your place?”
He bowed his head. “I am Wilp, and I know my place. I contribute.”
Limax said, “Then return to your duties. The Reminders will discuss this.”
Wilp left disappointed.
“I’m not sure I believe everything Wilp said. He overreacts,” Muuk said. “They follow some of the Old Ways: responsibility to contribute, the value of reminders and punishment, binding decisions, and certainly the strength of our soldiers is the strength of a culture. However they don’t give women their best roles and now we suspect – they may have been lax about special purity.”
Erps spoke up. “Councilor Ulay has been kind and giving. It is reported that he is a prophet, and he walks with his son. His son is the true star messiah, the Chosen One. Have you seen him? He is strong and tall. When his eyes are on you, you know your place in the galaxy. And he is here to bring us forth from darkness. Perhaps he is the one mentioned in prophecy. Do we dare go against that?”
Limax said, “I hear your reminding Erps, and I’m inclined to agree. Which one of us is perfect in the Old Ways?”
Doib said, “Personally I always saw special purity as being top of the ladder, not eliminating the ladder totally. Why not use aliens, despicable as they are, for our own ends?”
Kinch said, “These are our allies, and they are strong!”
Muuk said, “We are Reminders, not leaders. Our people are exceptional. We can guide them, but not order them. They know the way.”
The men nodded and parted company, careful not to be detected.
Muuk reflected as he walked. Their fathers and grandfathers – the Great Planners – were icons and heroes to all the people aboard the AndroVault. Muuk felt like he would be lucky to be as revered. He wanted to be a good son. Yet part of him was contemptuous of his father and grandfather. They had run when they could have stood and fought. He never spoke it out loud, but he considered them cowards. It was his time and he wouldn’t be weak.
CHAPTER 20
Orion’s Spear
Hawking went below with Renosha to repair his face sensors. Meanwhile the Eye of Orion rose through the atmosphere. Governor came up to the bridge and hounded Steo down to his quarters, browbeat him into eating and secretly placed a sleeping drug in his drink. Then Governor lifted him into bed and watched over him for the next 12 hours.
They suspected what they would find in the ship graveyard. It was silent and empty. They made a full circuit and found nothing.
In the spot where the AndroVault had been, Steo located the remains of his probe drones. In the salvo, he had launched a design of his own: a drone that attached to a ship, a “sticky tracker.” It disturbed the local graviton field just like his virus did. However he found it floating adrift. They pulled it in with a tractor beam. The tracker had stuck to a ship, but looked like it was forcibly removed.
However, he checked the scans and found the pattern of the AndroVault in the local graviton field. He had Yuina follow it. It led away from the “sticky tracker” and out of the graveyard. Then it disappeared but left a distinctive pattern of moving off at FTL speed, with a clear direction and distance.
Steo was holding the tracker in his hand but had a signal to follow.
“That shouldn’t be possible,” he muttered, confused.
There was jubilation on the AndroVault. Nearly a hundred thousand had been awakened. Some of the soldiers were converting to
the Old Ways. They had won their second major battle, as well.
The fleet’s victory had been against Insolent Stray, a pirate base on a lone planet around a bright yellow sun. It wasn’t difficult to convince the awakened to attack a base full of vile criminals and rejects, much less ones who harbored aliens.
Admiral Slaught’s fleet had expanded to 35 ships. Most were destroyers or smaller – no battlecruisers or dreadnoughts yet. Captured ships were staffed with awakened.
Allowing the awakened to use communications might let them learn that some allied ships contained aliens. Those ships maintained a secure communications network centered on the Fire Scorpion. Another was used for the awakened human xenophobes.
Slaught was a busy admiral. He was never alone, and often liked to travel throughout the fleet with Cyrus at his side. They decided it wasn’t necessary to introduce Cyrus as the star messiah yet, since things were going so well. Dr. Fector was contemptuous of Cyrus, saying he “liked to play with shiny things.”
Admiral Slaught ordered a staff meeting. He attended electronically. They were to identify their next target. At the meeting he explained this would be the last test of the awakened. If they could attack a world with many humans on it and conduct most of the fighting themselves, they would become an unstoppable war machine. The Tarium spiral arm would be next.
The admiral was giving a speech. Behind him was a panel showing the fleet. They had gathered in clumps around the planet Insolent Stray.
Tech Commander Makkiner paled. He pointed past Slaught at the panel. Slaught spun around and saw what everyone saw as the alarms rang: three ships engulfed in nuclear explosions.
Cardinal rules of war in space:
#1: Never let your guard down. A ship could appear next to yours in an instant. It was unlikely, because of how slow information travels in space, but ambush was the deadliest tactic.
#2: Never stop moving. Only when docked in a secure facility should a ship be immobile. Otherwise even simple weapons could hit and destroy your ship.
#3: Always post guards to watch for incoming attacks.
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