by J. N. Chaney
“You guys all set?” Dash asked, pausing on his way to the Archetype.
Amy nodded. “Pretty much. Just checking a few last-minute things.” She frowned and pointed up at the flank of the Slipwing, which was looming over them. “Did you know there’s a coolant leak in the starboard-side thruster array?”
“Um…yeah, I did.”
“And you never got it fixed?”
Dash shrugged. “Forgot all about it, actually. Just seemed easier to keep the system topped-off.”
Amy scowled. “Pilots. They’re a ship’s worst enemy.”
“Might I remind you that you’re a pilot now, my dear?”
“I’m an engineer, who also happens to be a pilot. Big difference.”
Dash grinned. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
Amy stuck out her tongue at him, turning his grin into a laugh.
As Amy herded the last stragglers aboard the Slipwing and started to prep her for launch, Dash made his way to the Archetype then boarded and settled into the cradle.
“Amy, you ready to fly?”
“I’ll follow you out,” she replied.
“Roger that.” He scanned the heads-up, then said, “Okay, Sentinel, let’s get powered up and on our way.”
“Switching Archetype systems from stand-by to active.”
Dash felt the big mech come to life, both through the Meld, and in his hands and feet where they were locked into the cradle. Just like that, the Archetype was once more an extension of him—he was it, and it was him. Lifting off, he turned and slid smoothly through the force-field, into space. Amy eased the Slipwing out behind him.
“Leira, how about you?” Dash said.
No answer.
Dash frowned and scanned the heads-up again. There, the Swift traveled on a straight course, heading directly away from the Forge.
And directly toward the nearby gas giant.
“Uh, Leira? Any particular reason you want to visit that planet right now?”
Still no answer.
A hard knot formed in Dash’s stomach. Had something gone wrong? Had the Swift suffered some catastrophic failure on its first flight?
He reoriented the Archetype and prepared to accelerate after the other mech, to recover it if necessary, or at least rescue Leira.
“—totally impossible!” she said, her voice slamming through Dash’s head.
“Holy crap, Leira, what’s going on?”
“It’s Tybalt! He’s insisting that he should pilot us away from the Forge. But I’m the one supposed to be piloting.”
“Which you will do,” Tybalt put in. “As soon as you are ready for it—as I have said twice prior to this.”
“I can fly this thing just fine,” Leira snapped.
“You have only piloted the Swift in simulations,” Tybalt replied. “Until the Meld is fully established, it would be irresponsible, even reckless, to allow you full control of its systems in actual flight.”
“So get the damned Meld fully established!”
“Once we are sufficiently clear of the Forge—”
“Damn it, Tybalt!”
Dash shook his head and cut in, saying, “Okay, you two, break it up. Leira, I hate to say it, but Tybalt has a point.”
“Are you taking his side?” she asked, her voice ominously quiet.
“Yeah, I am. But before you bite my head off, just listen for a second. You are going to be piloting one of the single most advanced and destructive machines in existence. Tybalt—”
“Is a pain in the ass!”
“Yeah, maybe he is. But he’s also an AI specifically designed by the Unseen to run their tech. Right now, he’s the expert. You understand?”
There was silence. Finally, she said, “I suppose.”
Dash ignored her resistant tone, knowing that a singular experience like piloting a mech could rattle anyone.
“If he thinks you should finalize the Meld away from the station, then, well, you should listen to him. For now,” Dash added. “Ultimately, you’ll be the boss. But make sure you’re actually ready to be the boss first.”
“Surprisingly wise words,” Tybalt said.
Dash curled his lip. “Why surprisingly?”
“I was merely stating—”
“Remember that I’m on your side right now, Tybalt. Don’t make me regret it.”
This time, Leira chuckled. “See, it’s not just me. He really is a pain in the ass, isn’t he?”
“All of these AI’s are,” Dash said. “Anyway, Tybalt, we need to get underway as soon as we can, so whenever you can finalize that Meld—”
“We should be sufficiently clear of the Forge shortly.”
Dash shook his head. It was bad enough that he was facing negotiating with a bunch of pirates; now, he had to mediate between Leira and her own AI.
“Messenger, I have a question for you,” Sentinel said.
“Go ahead.”
“In what way, exactly, have I been a pain in the ass?”
Dash closed his eyes. I don’t need this. I really don’t.
Leira screamed.
Dash’s instinct was to race to her aid, but he held himself back. Tybalt had said that he was going to finalize the Meld with her—and Dash remembered the exquisite pain he felt when Sentinel had done it to him.
“Leira? You okay?”
“N—no!”
“Tybalt,” Dash said. “Is Leira—?”
“Despite her protests, she is—”
“Screw you!”
“—quite well, yes,” Tybalt said.
Dash waited, watching the Swift as it arced around, pulling away from the gas giant. The mech had been getting a little too close for comfort, and he’d been about to follow it in case Leira or Tybalt actually did need help. But at least one of them had control of the Swift, it seemed.
“Okay,” Leira said, still gasping. “Okay. That was—”
“Stung a bit, huh?”
“Did you have to go through that?”
“I sure did,” Dash said. “Mind you, I was kind of dying at the time, so searing pain was a good reminder I wasn’t dead yet.”
“Wow,” Leira said. “That’s…okay, I have to admit. That’s…wow.”
“The Meld, you mean?”
“Yeah, it’s…wow.”
“You said that already.”
“I can see now what Tybalt meant. I really wasn’t ready to fly this thing. Not until now, anyway.”
Dash nodded. “Yeah. You’re not flying the Swift. You’re just…flying.”
The Swift abruptly changed course and began speeding toward Dash. It accelerated at an impressive rate, even faster than the Archetype. Leira suddenly laughed and the Swift rolled, then somersaulted—and then did something like a little dance.
“Okay, now you’re just screwing around,” Dash said.
“Damned right I am,” Leira replied. “I will never be able to sit in a g-couch and just fly an ordinary ship again.
“So, Leira,” Tybalt said. “Have we established that my approach was the correct one?”
“If you knew this, then what was the point of all that simulator training?” Leira shot back. “Why didn’t you just do this Meld thing right away?”
“The simulations were to ensure you had a basic understanding of the Swift’s systems, functions, and capabilities, as well as its limitations. As for the Meld, it was not possible to finalize it until the Swift itself was fully operational.”
“Fine,” Leira said, her tone grudging. “You were right.”
Somehow, Tybalt’s silence still managed to ring with smugness.
“All right then,” Dash said. “Now that that’s done, let’s get ourselves underway. Amy, haven’t heard from you in a bit. Are you ready?”
When she answered, Dash couldn’t make out her reply. He thought at first that there was something wrong with comms but then realized she was laughing.
He couldn’t help grinning. “Amy?”
“So help me, cuz, i
f this laughter is about me, I’ll be punching you right in the nose—and I might just use the Swift’s fist to do it.” Leira snapped.
“Laughing about…you?” Amy said, her voice still hovering on the edge of collapsing back into hysterics. “About how you sounded back there? And Tybalt? And…”
The comm cut off momentarily. When it restored, Dash could almost hear Amy wiping her eyes. “Of course it wasn’t about you, Leira. It was Kai. He just told me the most hilarious joke ever.”
“Really?” Leira said. “How about sharing it then?”
“Oh, I could never tell it the way Kai can.”
“Fine. Put him on.”
“Oh, he’s…lost his voice. All of a sudden, just lost it. Weird, huh?”
“All right, kids,” Dash said. “Enough with the fun and games. Let’s haul our collective butts to Rayet-Carinae and meet some pirates.”
Ragsdale’s voice sounded on the comm. “Dash? Now that you’re all away, Custodian’s going to activate all the Forge’s defense systems. If you’re coming back here with anyone new, make sure you or Leira is with them, or they might get kind of blown up.”
“Roger that,” Dash replied, watching as the Swift and the Slipwing closed in, settling into formation with him. “And since we’ve got some time, Leira, we might as well get you some practice with your shiny new mech.” He smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you everything I know.”
“And once the Messenger has done that, I will teach you how to do it all properly,” Tybalt said.
Dash shook his head. Yup, these AI’s really were a pain in the ass.
10
“Holy crap,” Dash said. “That is a lot of planets.”
There were, in fact, twenty-eight of them swinging around the yellow-white star called Rayet-Carinae. The two outermost were ice giants, similar to Brahe, but the rest were rocky worlds, all large enough to hang onto atmospheres of varying breathability. The Archetype’s scanners returned life and artificial power signatures from all of them; some, based on atmospheric chemistry, were engaged in agriculture, while others hosted mining operations, and still others acted as trade and transport hubs for the others. The whole system had an air of bustling prosperity.
Except, that is, for the broad halo of asteroids that filled the space between the nineteenth and twentieth planets. Dash had seen it in the data about Rayet-Carinae back on the Forge, but seeing it portrayed on the Archetype’s heads-up made him give a low whistle of surprise. It was, by far, the biggest and densest asteroid field he’d ever seen. “And that is one hell of an asteroid belt.”
“I can see why these Gentle Friends would want to hang out here,” Leira said. “Finding them in that mess of rocks would be almost impossible. But with all of this activity and traffic, how the hell do they manage to not get caught when they leave the cover of it?”
“Good point,” Viktor said. “Most of the commercial traffic is star-ward of the belt. They’d have to come further in-system to get at it.”
“I’ll say it again, they’re good at what they do,” Harolyn replied.
Viktor sniffed. “By which you mean they’re good at being ruthless, thieving thugs.”
“Yeah, well, I’d suggest leaving that attitude aboard your ship when you meet these people,” Harolyn shot back. “You’re here to get their help, remember?”
Dash wanted to head off an argument, so he said, “Harolyn, I’m suspecting you had something to do with at least some of the mining operations we see in this system—and that’s how you happen to know these people, am I right?”
“You got me. Yeah, we’ve set up three different mining ops here, and I spent some time managing two of them.”
“So how did you even get to know them in the first place?” Leira asked. “I mean, from your perspective, they should have been the bad guys, preying on the legit work you were doing.”
Harolyn didn’t answer right away, but Dash did.
“I’ll tell you how,” he said. “She was paying them off. It was a protection racket. Isn’t that right, Harolyn?”
“Yeah, you got me again. After a couple of shipments of helium-3 ore went missing, I got a message from them saying that they could make sure it didn’t happen anymore.”
“Let me guess, they were offering to escort your cargos,” Dash said. “Probably at a little more than commercial rates, too.”
“A lot more, actually. It was still worth it, though. It was the cost of—”
“Doing business. Yeah, I know. Seen it a hundred times in different systems.” Dash shook his head. “Anyway, I’m assuming you got to know something about these Gentle Friends and their leader, who’s name is…uh…” Harolyn had briefed them on this, but the name escaped him.
“Benzel,” Harolyn said.
“Right. Benzel. And I’m willing to bet that he’s not the most forgiving sort, is he?”
“He doesn’t put up with shit, if that’s what you mean.”
Dash smiled. “Yeah, that sums it up nicely. So, I think that means we need to show him we don’t put up with any shit, either.”
“Dash, I’ll say it again. I know you want to impress this guy, but I don’t think trying to be all intimidating is a good approach.”
Harolyn had already made this abundantly clear during their planning talks back on the Forge. She thought the Gentle Friends were dangerous enough people that they’d probably respond to any attempt to menace them with menace of their own. Her attitude made sense, given that she’d just given in and paid them off to avoid dealing with them. And Dash had considered doing that, too—just buying the services of the Gentle Friends, like hiring mercenaries.
The trouble was that mercenaries were only as loyal as the credits you paid them. They also tended to balk at being under any sort of command. Dash, Raglan, Leira, and the others had discussed it, and they came to the conclusion that the stakes were too high for anything but genuine commitment to the cause of fighting the Golden. So, while accruing wealth was certainly something they could offer the Gentle Friends as a perk of helping the cause, they also had to be crystal clear about being a part of something bigger, and absolutely devoted to whatever the plan might be.
That was especially true, Ragsdale had put in, given that they were planning on putting the staggeringly destructive power of Unseen tech into the hands of pirates.
“Harolyn, look, I get what you’re saying. But we don’t have time for a lot of negotiation, and we can’t afford to bring anyone onboard who isn’t willing to commit to our war. Period. We need to impress them, hard, and we need to do it first thing. My wishes won’t be unclear in the slightest, and my will isn’t flexible. Not now.”
“Dash,” Leira said. “Tybalt just pointed out there’s something interesting happening on the star-ward rim of the asteroid field.”
Dash studied the data Sentinel repeated on the Archetype’s heads-up. Zooming in, he saw an asteroid about fifty klicks in diameter, upon which was anchored a transient mining ship. The big, bulky vessel was designed to poke around a prospective asteroid field like this one, finding bodies containing valuable ores, clamping itself onto them, and chewing the precious resources out of them. This one, an asteroid apparently named Nokumi, offered up a rich trove of helium-3 derived from the stellar wind continuously washing across its rocky surface. The mining ship had just topped off a bulk cargo carrier, which was now accelerating back into the system, its trajectory aimed at a chemical processing facility orbiting the nineteenth planet.
That wasn’t the interesting part, though. What was were three small ships lurking among the asteroids on the edge of the field, obviously watching the mining operation and the space-lanes leading to and from it. They were stealthed, which probably meant the bulk carrier couldn’t see them. Thanks to their Unseen tech, Dash and Leira could make them out easily as they worked themselves into position for a final, inexorable run at their quarry.
“Have to admit, these guys are pretty good,” Dash said, casting a critical eye
on the pirates’ careful maneuvering.
“They are,” Leira replied. “Looks like whoever’s running that operation didn’t pay to have their ships escorted through the asteroids.”
Dash waited for Harolyn to respond, but she didn’t, so he spoke up instead. “Okay, then. Here’s a chance to break in the Swift, Leira. In a nice and gentle way, too, since we’re not up against the Golden.” He and Leira then had a quick discussion about tactics, with both Sentinel and Tybalt offering suggestions, observations, and—especially in Tybalt’s case—a few criticisms. Once they’d finalized the plan, Dash said, “Amy, we’re going in. You just hang out here for now. And if you need help, for any reason—”
“Don’t worry, I’ll scream hysterically.”
“Not my first choice, but it works. Eyes forward, everyone. This is our shot,” Dash said.
Aiming themselves at the tiny world called Nokumi, Dash powered the Archetype into motion, with Leira and the Swift close behind.
Dash let the Archetype drift, the slight gravitation from the nearby asteroid he’d been using as cover nudging the mech slowly to one side. He corrected, keeping the three Gentle Friends’ ships in view.
“Any second now, they’re going to make their move,” Leira said.
“Yup.” He glanced at the icon portraying the Swift on the heads-up. It was adjacent to another asteroid a few hundred klicks away. “You ready?”
“Whenever you are.”