by Arlin Fehr
'I know Daniel. I know. We're going. This thing's not that fast.' Sam said.
'Hey. We all knew there was a chance some of us wouldn't make it back. It's always been a risk of the job.' Daniel said.
'I know. Just... try to stay alive.' Sam said.
'Exo has no use for a dead man.' Dan said.
'We're starting our main drive now. We'll be moving out of system, but this thing really isn't fast. Check in with me as much as you can.'
'I'll see what I can do Captain.' Daniel said.
The communication channel shut off. Exo's robot stepped in front of Daniel.
'Now may we begin?'
'How do we start?'
'I bring your advocate uplink online, and we link together. Stand up please.'
Daniel stood, and the robot turned him around. Daniel could hear it doing something, but didn't feel anything. After a moment, something new exploded in his senses. He staggered forward onto the bed, his mind spinning.
'Hello Advocate,' said a voice in his head.
'Is this what Ise went through all the time?' Daniel said. He tried to stand up, but a wave of vertigo kept him down.
'Try to think your replies in your mind.'
'What did you do to me?' Daniel replied.
'I have only installed an advocate uplink. No other advocate systems are present within you. I desired to maintain your humanity as much as I could.'
'I feel I've been thrown in a blender.'
'It will take time to adapt. Advocates start as children normally. They develop around the systems, and grow up having them present. Adapting to it as an adult is difficult, but we have time,' Exo said.
Daniel tried to stand up again, and took a shaky step back. His foot missed it's mark and he fell down. He hit his back against some equipment, and cried out in pain.
'E-e-xqsuite,' said Exo with a stutter, 'M-m-ore.'
***
Sam was quiet as they flew the ship away from the planet. She seemed to be deep in thought. John didn't have much to say himself, and the rest of the crew had taken to searching the ship more thoroughly.
It was a larger ship than the Kanto was, with more living space, but there still wasn't much in the way of private space. They would be sharing the beds and rotating flight shifts. John was still getting a feel for the ship's capabilities.
A light flashed on his panel. John turned on his comms, 'Hey Jing, I've got a status light on engines, what's going on down there?'
'These things haven't been fired for close to forty years. I'm amazed they even turned on.'
'Give it a look. Don't want those cutting out on us now.' John said.
'Yeah. I'll have to shut them down for a bit while I give it a look,' Jing replied.
'I don't need to change course any time soon, go ahead and shut down,' John said.
'Aye sir.'
John set the controls, and felt the hum of the ship change slightly as the engines went off line. Sam looked up from her thoughts, 'Why don't you go back and give him a hand. I'll handle it up here.'
John nodded, and got up. He left the cockpit and walked down the central corridor of the ship. At the end of the hall, he stepped through a doorway and into the engineering section. Jing was working on a computer panel, with a tool box sitting open next to him. He looked up at John.
'Come to lend a hand?'
'Yeah. The captain looked like she could use some quiet time anyway.' John said.
Jing nodded, turning back to his work, 'Understandable.'
'What can I do for you?' John said, walking to Jing.
'Take over here. I'm running a test on the control systems, but I've got a hunch it's in the engines themselves. If you finish this, I can get started.'
'Right. Good luck.'
John heard the sound of Jing working behind him, and watched the test run on his screen. It finished, and no faults were displayed. He turned in his seat and looked back at Jing. Jing was in a crawl space on his side, poking around in some part of the engine assembly.
'How's it look Jing? The test didn't have any faults.'
'Not good. If we try to fly this much longer, it's just going to shut down permanently.'
'What's the diagnosis?'
'We've got two days time until it breaks for good. These systems just haven't been maintained. Containment systems are shaky. We won't have enough power to charge the jump drive once we hit the system edge. This will all fall apart before then. We've got to get a different ship.'
'I'll go talk to the captain,' John said, getting up.
He walked back to the bridge and sat down at his station. Sam looked over at him, her expression still distant.
'Bad news captain,' John said, 'this ship won't hold together long enough to get us out of system.'
Sam nodded slowly, and looked away.
John waited for a moment before continuing, 'We'll have to go back.'
Sam turned back to him and nodded, 'Turn us around.'
***
'Careful now Daniel, take your steps slowly. Your mind is still adapting to your new systems. I would not want anything to happen to you,' Exo said.
One of Exo's robots was holding Dan's arms and helping him walk down the hallway. Dan didn't know where he was being taken, but at this point, it didn't really matter. He'd gotten back into his space suit, having lacked any other clothing.
Something caught his foot, and Dan took a tumble. His arm slipped from the robot's grip and he fell to the ground, landing hard. His shoulder hurt, and his chest hurt again.
'P-p-pl-lease b-be more ca-careful,' Exo stuttered.
The robot bent down and helped to pick him up.
'Why do you keep stuttering when I fall Exo?' Daniel asked.
'It's been a long time since I experienced pain. It's a most exhilarating experience.'
'That's not the word I'd use.'
'I had a similar discussion with one of my last Advocates. I had to explain to him that when you've experience nothing, even pain is a positive. This time I have not been in total darkness though, the experiences I've had via the animals has been most educational.'
'That's why you have the advocate systems in the animals.'
'Yes. I wanted to feel something. After I lost my Advocate, I could not stand the emptiness of having no more physical experience.'
Daniel nodded and started walking slowly again. His comms beeped a notification. He turned it on.
'Hello Captain. You didn't wait long to check in.' Daniel said.
'We've had a problem. We need to come back.'
Exo's voice cut in over the comms line, 'Unacceptable. We had an agreement.'
Daniel frowned, 'Hey, you didn't even hear why.'
'It will not matter. They simply want to get you back. I cannot allow it,' Exo said.
'This ship is falling apart Exo, the engines won't last more then a few days before they fail completely. The reactor is on it's last legs. We won't be able to use out jump drive even if we manage to survive to the edge of the system.'
'You are lying,' Exo said.
'We're not. If you want to check for yourself, you're welcome to. We're already on a return course. We need a different ship,' Sam said coldly.
'I have no other ships,' Exo replied.
'Now you're lying. We saw other ships in the hanger bay,' Sam said angrily.
'None are in working condition,' Exo replied.
'Let our engineer have a look. He may be able to find some parts or something.'
'No. You cannot return. You are only trying to retrieve your crew member,' Exo said.
'I'm not going to let the rest of us die out here. We're coming back.'
'I will prevent it. This communication is over.' Exo said.
Suddenly, Daniel lost his comms connection.
'Exo, what was that all about? They're in danger,' Daniel said.
'I will not lose you,' Exo said.
'Well I'm not going to let my friends die either. The deal was they live,' Daniel sat
down on the corridor floor, 'I'm not moving until you help them.'
'Yes you will.'
Exo's robot pulled out a metal rod, and moved for Dan. Daniel scrambled backwards, the robot still moving towards him. Daniel got up and started to try and run away, but his legs were still unsteady and he fell to the ground. He rolled onto his back and looked up, he noticed the robot staggered on its feet now. He struggled back to his feet and started to move again, leaning against the wall. He felt a sharp pain when he breathed.
'S-s-top, you a-a-re en-n-dager-ing yours-s-self.' Exo said.
A door opened ahead and another robot stumbled out, unsteady on it's feet. It came towards Dan with a metal rod in its hand.
It swung the rod at Dan. Dan fell back to avoid it.
Another flash of pain. He started coughing painful, trying desperately to maintain focus.
The robot in front of him fell to the floor with a clatter. It's hands twitched, and it lost the grip on the rod.
Daniel crawled towards it, going for the fallen weapon. The robot behind him was starting to make progress towards him, but was still moving very slowly.
His hands closed around the rod. He pulled it towards himself, and started to roll on the floor to turn around and face the other robot.
He swung the rod at the robot's leg, and just touched it with a glancing blow. There was crack of electricity, and the robot fell forward. However, it's arm jerked out and hit Daniel on his back.
His muscles tensed as the shock lanced through him, and he blacked out.
***
Error... System overload.
System usage 100%
Memory transmission buffers overloaded.
Overload source, Advocate uplink feed back.
Processing time, two hours, forty minutes.
...
Abort.
Aborting memory transmission.
...
Transmissions cancelled.
System stabilizing.
Advocate uplink status... offline.
Advocate is incapacitated, medical status, critical.
Ship approaching.
...
Objectives: stabilize the advocate.
Protect the Advocate.
End Objectives.
...
Analyzing situation.
Approaching ship unarmed.
Scramble drones to deal with ship.
Advocate critical.
Conservatory discovered.
Place Advocate in medical stasis
Dispatch Advocate to other XO-33 sub unit facility with superior medical supplies.
...
Execute plan.
***
Sam and John sat in the cockpit of the Tyndale, as it flew back towards the rogue planet they had just left. It's dark silhouette obscured the stars behind it.
'Still no sign of any activity,' Sam said, looking at her display.
'When he said he'd stop us, I thought he might try something while we're on approach.'
'Hold that thought. I've got something coming from the surface,' Sam said.
She looked at her sensor read out and saw a cluster of contacts moving towards them.
'Some kind of ships, moving in formation, on an intercept course.'
'What now? This ship hasn't got weapons.' John said.
'Ise?' Sam said into her comms.
'Yes captain?'
'Can you and Victor jam Exo's link to these drones?'
'We'll try. Need some time though.'
'Work on it, I've got no promises of time.' Sam said.
Sam looked to John. John was angling the ship towards the hanger they had left from.
Sam flicked on the ships communication system, 'I.S.A. Tyndale to XO-33, please allow us entry. We are unarmed and pose no threat, but we will not survive a trip in this ship.'
The drones split into two groups and fell into formation on either side of the ship.
'Reverse your course or be destroyed,' came the reply.
Something showed up on the sensors. Another ship moving close to the planets surface. It was bigger than the drones.
'John, move us away. We've got to deal with the drones first.'
'Aye captain.'
John turned the ship, and Sam watched as the drones kept going forward, heading towards the new ship by the surface.
'What the heck is going on?' Sam said. She turned on the comm system again, 'This is the I.S.A. Tyndale to unidentified ship, you are in danger, please respond.'
'Shirp knows how to stop great mind's ships.'
'Shirp? What are you doing?'
'Great mind controls ships through towers on surface. Shirp destroy tower, ships stop,' came the reply.
'How did you get out of there?' Sam asked.
'Shirp found ship with weapons. Opened door forcefully,' Shirp replied
'How do you know how to fly the ship?' Sam asked.
'Shirp find ship of kin. Great mind has visited Shirp's kin. Great mind is enemy of kin. Shirp was here to find great mind. Shirp must return and tell kin of great mind's location.' Shirp said.
There was a flash of light on the surface of the planet as something exploded. On the sensors, the drones continued their forward course, but as Shirp's ship flew away, the drones didn't change course. They slammed into the surface, showing up as pin pricks of light in the dark.
Shirp's craft angled away from the planet.
'Shirp is leaving now.'
'Safe journey Shirp,'
'Same.' Shirp replied.
Shirp's ship on the sensor feed began to accelerate, moving further and further away.
'Let's go get a new ship.' Sam said.
***
External communication array destroyed.
Drone control offline.
Synchronization systems offline.
Memory uplink offline.
XO-33 sub unit 49 switched to independent operations.
Danger; cessation of operation will result in loss of experiences for XO-33 greater network.
Further Advocate experiences in danger of loss.
Priorities: Resume link with XO-33 greater network.
Continue evacuation of Advocate to other XO-33 sub unit.
...
Hostile ship approaching hanger bay.
Hanger bay adequate choke point.
Redeploying assets.
CHAPTER 13
I.S.A. Tyndale – Over Hanger doors
'Coming in on the hanger now.' John said.
'Landing cameras online,' Sam said, checking her screen, 'Wow, Shirp did a number on that hanger bay.'
Looking at the screen, the doors of the hanger bay had a large gaping hole. Debris were scattered across the landscape. The left most door had been blown off it's rails and was slumped downward, resting on the hanger bay floor.
'Is it big enough for us?' John said.
'Should be.'
'Taking us in.' John said.
'Hang on, I've got something else on sensors.'
On her screen, Sam watched as a group of ships winked into existence on her scopes. They were arrayed in formation. They surged to life and began to move towards the planet.
Sam toggled the ships communication system, 'This is Captain Samantha Geer of the United Planetary Navy to unknown vessels, please identify yourselves.'
John looked nervously at her, 'More drones?'
'I hope not.'
'This is Captain Zao of the U.P.N. Grimshaw, please send your encryption codes immediately.'
'Negative Captain Zao, we're not on board our normal craft, we don't have access to our Guardian or it's encryption system.'
There was silence on the other end.
'What now?' John asked.
'They'll probably ask to board us, they'll see who we are, and then we can go home.'
'Maybe we can crack open Exo's base and get Dan out.'
'I hope so,' Sam replied.
'This is Captain Zao, I've got it on good autho
rity you are who you say you are.'
Sam frowned, 'What authority would that be.'
'That would be your mother, a one Ayla Geer. She was the one that summoned the task force.'
'My mother's on board?'
'No Ma'am, she'll be coming here on board the craft that came and called for help. The U.P.N. Kanto. We didn't have any spare advocates that could fly it back, and it's jump drive wasn't recharged yet, she agreed to do it.'
Sam was shocked. Her mother wanted nothing to do with Guardians since her younger days. She'd pushed that thought aside and focused back on the task at hand.
'Captain Zao, we have a bit of a situation that we could use your help with. We've got a crew member who's in a facility on the planet below that's currently being held by a rogue Guardian unit. We had to leave him behind, but we have an opportunity to retrieve him now that you're here.'
'You left him behind? We heard a bit about the guardian from your guardian. Is there anything else you can tell us about it?' Zao asked.
'He actually chose to stay behind so we could escape. As for the Guardian, it's designation is XO-33, and it's been completely independent of an Advocate for close to forty years. We've found it experimenting on animals, and behaving in a hostile manner towards us. This thing is very dangerous, and was not hesitating to destroy us.'
'I... see. Very well Captain Geer. If nothing else, this bears an investigation. My task force will deploy a marine squad on a lander craft. Follow it in, and help us through this.' Zao said.
'Just as a word of caution, the Guardian has many humanoid robots with limited combat capabilities, and seems to be able to control the animals in the facility.'
'How many animals are present?'
'A large number. It's a conservatory down there.'
'I will inform the commander. Captain Zao out.'
***
Sam stood inside their ship, waiting for John to land it in the hanger. Jing, Victor, and Ise stood around her. They all had their weapons drawn.
The ship gave a little shudder as it touched down on it's landing struts.
'Popping the ramp captain, I'll meet you down there,' came John's voice over her suit comms.