by Terry Mixon
Taking a small risk, she sent a tight-beamed command to the probe to go a little closer.
While it did so, she contacted Princess Kelsey.
“What is it, Angela?” the princess asked.
“I think you need to tap into probe feed fifteen.”
“What the hell?” Kelsey said after a moment. “A guard force on a dead-end flip point? That makes no sense.”
“Exactly what I said. I’ve instructed the probe to get a little closer and take a look. Some of the ships are powered up, and all of the battle stations are, so we need to be careful.”
“I’m on my way,” the princess said a moment before killing the com connection.
Three minutes later, she walked onto the bridge with Talbot and Carl on her heels.
“How long until the probe is in position to give us more data about the ships and stations?” she asked.
“It was already close, so not too long,” Angela said.
They all waited in silence as the probe inched its way closer. Finally, it was in position to see the closest ones clearly enough via passive scanners to tell them what they were looking at. Battlecruisers.
“Why are they here?” Kelsey asked. “What’s in there? Is this force here to keep people out or something else in?”
“We’re not going to be able to find out,” Talbot said. “Just sneaking to Terra is going to be hard enough. No way we can get access to that while the System Lord is active. Maybe not even if we took it out.”
Kelsey sighed and nodded. “Then we proceed with the mission as planned. We’ll worry about this mystery at a later date. What’s our status?”
“We’ll be in position to launch the pinnaces in about three hours,” Angela said. “You’ll have a good bit of coasting to do at that point.”
The princess’s expression was grim. “Then we start the hard part. Talbot, Carl, get your people ready. We’ll leave on schedule.”
37
Kelsey rubbed her eyes tiredly. She’d been helping load crates of drones and gathering everything they’d need on the surface between runs, and even she was feeling run down.
The argument she’d been engaged in for hours, off and on, with Jared Mertz, Sean Meyer, and Scott Roche hadn’t helped her rest, though at least she’d gotten a few meals down in the process.
The cutter was on its way back up from dropping load five. This next one was the very last, and that was what had caused all of the disagreement. The matter was far from settled, and she just wanted it to be over.
She was in the mess hall, devouring what might be her last good meal for a while. Yes, they had plenty of field rations, but that wouldn’t be the same. Scott Roche was sitting across from her, and Sean Meyer was to her left. Mertz had just sat on her right, and she was ready for the next wave of objections.
“Before you start this again, I know that I’m right and so do you,” she said between bites. “How about we skip the argument part and just get to planning what I do next?”
Mertz sighed. “This is an extremely risky plan. The number of things that could go wrong are legion.”
“And yet there’s no reasonable alternative,” she countered. “I’m the only one of us that has a chance of surviving, so unless you want to have a suicide mission for someone, why are we fighting? Didn’t you tell me that I should trust more in my abilities and that I could do amazing things? Why the big turnaround?”
“Because this idea is crazy, Highness,” Scott said in what he no doubt thought was a reasonable tone. “The chances of you pulling this off are damned poor, and I for one don’t want to see you throw your life away.”
She set her fork down beside her plate and gave him a level look. “If I don’t do this, the AI will know we’re pulling a fast one and drop a kinetic strike on site six, so I’ll die anyway. If I give this my best, I might make it. And realistically, I have a better chance of making this work than anyone else we have.”
Her friend rubbed his face. “I know you think that, but you’re not a trained pilot. There are a lot of automatic systems on the cutter, so it will probably get you close, but then you have to dock with an unmanned ship. There’ll be no one to assist or guide you.
“Let’s say that goes off without a hitch. The AI might set off the supposed bombs in our heads and order the ship to drop into the sun. You’d have to verify that course, make sure the ship is following it, and then get off to the nearest station.
“That’s the best case. The worst is that it has the ships following us open fire and destroys the ship with you on it.”
“And what if it demands to speak to a human being?” she countered. “Then it’ll know something is wrong. No, there has to be someone here to do the things that only a human can do, and I’m the best choice. I have a plan to get away, even under the worst-case scenario.”
“Does it give you a realistic chance of survival?” Mertz asked in a steady tone. “I doubt that very seriously. There has to be another way.”
“I’ll do it,” Sean said quietly.
“The hell you will,” Mertz countered. “Olivia would have both our hides if she knew you even offered.”
“Then let it be me,” Scott said. “I commanded a destroyer and am more than capable of piloting this ship. Sorry, Highness, but I’m a Fleet officer. If the choice is between you living or dying, I’ll do what I have to. I forbid you from this madness.”
The rising testosterone level at the table made her roll her eyes. “You’ve forgotten who you work for, Commander Roche. I give the orders, and you obey them.”
“I’ll gladly sit for that board of inquiry when we get home, Highness. You can testify against, me and I’ll accept whatever verdict they choose, so long as you’re alive to be there.”
She sighed. “That means so much to me, Scott. I know you mean every word of it, and it breaks my heart to ruin such a beautiful speech, but I will never let my friends throw their lives away for me again. I hope you’ll forgive me some day.”
With that, she fired the stunner she’d surreptitiously drawn from her belt holster and aimed at him under the table. The blue beam lit him up and caused him to spasm before falling out of his chair with a clatter, his convulsive grip on the tablecloth dragging everything off the table as he went down.
Everyone in the room lurched to their feet at the horrendous racket except her. She holstered the weapon and raised the taco she’d snatched off her plate to her mouth. It was the last one she’d have for a long time.
“Dammit, Kelsey,” Mertz said as he checked Scott. “That was way over the line.”
“Probably,” she admitted. “He’ll be really pissed when he wakes up, but I’ll either be there to deal with it or I’ll be dead. One way or the other, he lives. I’ve watched far too many of my friends die in the last few years to let that gallant idiot sacrifice himself for me.
“And make no mistake, if someone else tries to get froggy with me, I’ll use my Marine Raider enhancements to put them down too. This is the way it has to be, and I will not accept any more arguing about this. Am I clear?”
With a bemused expression, Mertz nodded. “‘Yes, Highness’ seems to be the only suitable response. If we can’t stop you, then we need to work damned hard to make sure you have every chance of making this work. You need to finish that taco.”
She nodded, finished the food, and stood. “Tell him I’m sorry if I don’t make it. He was only doing what he thought was right, and I treasure his friendship. Don’t let him blame himself. This was my decision.”
“I can tell him that all you want, Kelsey, but it won’t make a difference,” Mertz said with a shake of his head. “He’ll eventually forgive you if you live, but he’ll never forgive himself if you die.”
Honestly, death wouldn’t be as bad as knowing that Scott had given his life for hers. Her life had been nothing but pain and failure anyway. It might just be a blessing.
“So long as he lives, that’s a burden he’ll have to bear,” she said, her voice
sounding hollow even to her own ears. “Let’s do this.”
“It isn’t like I have much of a choice at this point,” Mertz said with a sigh. “Let’s get down to the cargo bay and make certain that everyone is ready. Still, I’m afraid your plan has one hole that still needs filling.
“The lack of a pilot for the cutter could ruin everything. Without one, the entire plan is ruined. Someone has to come with you, and I think it had best be me.”
She stopped dead in her tracks and turned toward him. “Are you mad? Only you can open the damned vaults under the Imperial Palace. You have to be there.”
“And I will be if you do your job. I’m going to risk a message to our Kelsey and have her pick us up from the nearest station.”
She fought to keep her eyes from rolling but failed. “We’ve already been through this. My Raider armor will keep them from spotting me. Your suit won’t be nearly as stealthy.”
“Let me show you something,” he said as he continued on into the cargo bay. Everyone seemed to already be there, waiting for the cutter to dock. They’d load the crate and then clear the ship. Everyone had whatever important things they could bring with them in bags at their feet.
Mertz led her over to the other side of the crate, and she stopped dead in her tracks. Spread out face down on the floor was a suit of Marine Raider armor. It looked just like hers, only it was a dark gray rather than black.
“What the hell?” she asked.
“Kelsey insisted I have this before we got separated. I’m not a Marine Raider, so I can’t use it to fight like you, but I can use its basic functions such as stealth and the grav booster. After the last time someone tried to assassinate me, she wasn’t going to allow me to be so vulnerable again.
“Carl hacked the interface and modified it to work with non-Raider implants. Mine, specifically. The armor is keyed to me, so I can’t really let anyone else take my place.”
“Why would you risk your life for me?” she asked slowly. “I’m not exactly your biggest fan.”
He smiled and had the audacity to clap her on the shoulder. “Even if you don’t feel about me the same way, you’re my sister. I’m not letting you face this alone. We’re family.”
The idea caused an initial surge of anger, but she tamped it down. He wasn’t the same man as in her universe. That was painfully obvious. It was time she really accepted that and worked at seeing him differently than the Bastard.
She forced herself to relax. “Okay. We do this together.”
A loud clanging announced the arrival of the cutter. Mertz… Jared released her and started getting the rest of the people moving. It was time.
Talbot sat at the flight engineer’s station in the pinnace’s cramped control area. Kelsey was in the copilot’s seat, though she wasn’t doing any flying at the moment. Both of them wore Marine Raider powered armor, though his was locked down to normal human strength, just to be safe.
He knew Kelsey could act as a copilot in a pinch, but she was still getting experience with the small craft. Maybe she’d get her marine small craft certification in a few months more, once she had the time to devote to the in-atmosphere qualifications.
They’d left Persephone hours ago and were ghosting toward Terra. The other pinnace, filled with marines and scientists, had separated from them and would make their way to the landing zone separately. No need for them to take risks on this rescue.
The pinnace he was on was empty except for the people in the control area. If it went bad, only the three of them would die.
They were on their final approach to orbit. They were coming in on the opposite side of the planet from the three ships watching over Athena, as well as the moon so that they’d avoid being silhouetted against it, but the AI would have line of sight on them. If things were going to go wrong, this was the time they’d do it.
Kelsey had cussed a blue streak when word had come that her brother was risking himself in the ruse that there were still people on the destroyer, but it wasn’t as if she could tear a strip off him for being reckless when that might call lightning down on herself.
A less cautious individual than his wife was hard to imagine.
The final drone placement was in progress on the surface, and the admiral would be on the way back to orbit in just a few minutes. This pinnace needed to be near the station the others would be heading for before then, or they wouldn’t be in a position to adjust for complications.
Kelsey stared at the viewport. Terra, her surface blue and green, dotted by white clouds, hung huge in front of them.
“I never thought I’d see this,” his wife muttered. “The homeworld of humanity. I read everything I could about it as a kid, but I’m going to see things no one on Avalon could even imagine now. If we can pull off this insane stunt.”
He laughed. “Pot, meet kettle.”
“You aren’t funny,” she said with an annoyed glance at him. “Jared is insane to take this kind of chance, even with a secret weapon in his pocket.”
“You keep dropping hints, but I’m not getting what you mean. What secret weapon?”
She smiled smugly. “I didn’t want to screw us up by revealing it too soon. You’ll find out when we pick him up. You’ll just have to trust me until then.”
He shook his head. “I trust you with my life, but you can be so juvenile.”
That made her laugh, probably in spite of her feelings. “I know, but I’m still worried. There are so many ways this can go wrong.”
“Welcome to the universe in which we live. Jared is as resourceful as you are. Trust that he knows what he’s doing.”
“We’re coming up to closest approach to the AI’s station,” Lieutenant Kada Erickson said, turning her head to look at Kelsey.
His wife focused her attention on the pilot. “Any sign it’s seen us?”
“Not at the moment, but it’ll have line of sight on Athena and the station we’re going to use for cover in thirty minutes. We should be able to get into position before then, but the three enemy cruisers will be right there.”
“And once trouble starts, they’ll all have a chance to see us,” Talbot added with a grumble. “In a perfect world, we’d pick the admiral up and wait for a clear moment to get down to Terra.”
“But this is likely to get messy,” Kelsey agreed. “If they start shooting and we have to get down to the surface in a hurry, what are our chances?”
“Slim to none,” the pilot said. “With clear skies at that range, they’ll spot anything dropping down into the atmosphere at once, even us. We’ll be in visual range, so the scanner-dampening coating on the hull will do us exactly zero good.”
Talbot knew they could get down to the surface safely when none of the hostiles were directly watching in about ten minutes, but Kelsey would never go that way. Neither would he.
They all watched the huge station holding the AI until it was over the horizon. Then Kelsey nodded. “Set course for the target station. Use its bulk as much as possible to keep the cruisers from seeing us. It’s time to save my brother. And myself.”
He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but he couldn’t agree more. Time to get this over with.
38
Jared took the controls as soon as they had everyone on the ground at the sixth landing area and had released the drones. Kelsey sat in the copilot’s chair, watching him as he lifted the cutter away from the ground and set course back toward the ship. One of Persephone’s pinnaces—the one with almost all the people Kelsey One had sent to Terra—would arrive while they were going up.
“How soon after we get back aboard do you think the AI will act?” Kelsey Two asked.
“It won’t delay long,” he said grimly. “Whatever it has in mind, it has no reason to wait. I expect it’ll jump as soon as it confirms it has complete control of the drones. Thankfully, the lockouts Austin installed will allow us to override that without the thing being aware of what we’re doing.”
“I had wondered about that,” she a
dmitted as the sky began growing darker as they climbed toward space. “So, we’ll be in the drone system and able to use, what? All of them? Only those in range?”
“Each group has a central controller and backup that can communicate with all the others. We’ll have access to all the drones, and none of them will report anything we don’t want. Each has a fake set of instructions to report how much of the nonexistent bioweapon they’re spreading to the AI, so it’ll think everything is going along great.
“Right now, we’re set up so that none of the ones in our general area will report anything not cleared by us. We don’t want to give the AI any real intelligence about what’s going on around us or that we’re here at all. If need be, we can assume direct control of all the drones and lock the AI completely out, but that’ll give the game away.”
She nodded. “That’s good. Do you think other me is in place?”
“Almost certainly,” he said. “With the AI so close, she won’t risk communicating with us at all, but she’d have gotten word to us if she’d been delayed. She’ll be there.”
The cutter exited the atmosphere a few minutes later, and Jared set course for Athena. The robotic destroyer had been a good ship. He was going to miss having her when the AI did something permanent to her, which he never doubted was coming for a moment.
He brought the cutter back to the dock and adroitly spun her along her axis to line up with the ship. With small nudges of the maneuvering thrusters, he mated the locks and sighed with relief when the automatic locking rings secured them together.
“There we go,” he said. “Easy as pie.”
“Why is pie easy? And don’t you think it’s rude to bring up food when I’m already hungry?”
He laughed. “Sorry. Let’s get inside and up to the bridge.”
“I might not have been able to do that,” Kelsey admitted as she lay face down in her armor, which was lying on the floor of the hold. It sealed up, and she quickly levered herself to her feet, her blank faceplate coming to life with a view of her face.