by M. D. Cooper
Diana’s laughter faded and she nodded soberly. “Welcome to my life.”
Angela said.
Sera nearly laughed aloud at Angela’s statement, and Tanis smiled, watching Petra say something to Sera as Diana looked on.
There was a strength in Diana, an unalterable belief that her actions were the best way forward for her people, despite short-term pitfalls.
Tanis knew all too well how that felt.
MYRIAD CONCERNS
STELLAR DATE: 10.02.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: ISS I2, Security Operations Center
REGION: Alexandria, Bosporus System, Scipio Empire
Captain Rachel Espensen let out a long, frustration-laden sigh as she sat in one of the chairs in Terry’s office.
“Tanis and Sera are due back on the ship in another day,” she said. “Their negotiations with Scipio are over, we’re preparing to leave the Bosporus system.”
“You say this like I don’t understand the implications,” Terry replied. “Trust me, this upsets me just as much as it does you.”
Rachel pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. “You’re right, Terry. You’ve been responsible for this ship’s safety longer than I’ve been alive.”
“Captain Espensen,” Terry rose and took a seat next to Rachel. She reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “This ship has survived worse than this. We’ll sort it out. We always do.”
“You’re right.” Rachel nodded and squared her shoulders as she gazed out over the I2’s Security Operations Center. Though it was far from the bridge, the SOC was one of the ship’s many hearts. Always bustling with activity; the work of keeping the massive vessel safe was never over—especially not with all of the Scipian dignitaries touring it.
“But knowing that we brought someone with us from New Canaan who would free Elena—who could fool our sensors….”
“You’re worried it’s a remnant.”
“Aren’t you?” Rachel asked. “We can’t detect them; Bob doesn’t even think he can. Any one of us could have one of those…things inside us.”
“I’ll admit that it does unnerve me. But Earnest has the remnant Tanis’s daughters were able to remove from Nance. Once he fully understands it, he’ll determine a way to detect them.”
Rachel nodded. “At least I know I don’t have one inside me. From what I read in the reports, Nance knew it was in there all along, she just couldn’t say anything about it to anyone.”
“Yup.” Terry nodded seriously as she cast an appraising eye at Rachel. “Which means you could be lying to me right now.”
“Terry!”
“Captain,” Terry laughed. “You need to relax. I don’t think there’s a remnant in you. I think that whoever it’s in is someone who can slip about with little notice.”
Rachel joined in Terry’s laughter. “Well, you’re right about that. I can’t walk more than ten paces without someone rushing after me with questions, or pinging me over the Link. Or both. Simultaneously. From the same person.”
“When was the last time you had a day off, Captain?” Terry’s tone was innocent, but her eyes belied concern.
“Stars….” Rachel looked at the room’s overhead, thinking back. “Sometime before President Tomlinson—the previous President Tomlinson—dropped in for a visit with his fleet.”
“Maybe you should see if you can take a day or two during our next stop.”
“It would help if we knew where that was.”
Terry shrugged. “Somewhere in the Silstrand Alliance—or the fringe systems between it and Scipio. That crusading fleet of AI-haters is in there somewhere. From what I hear, stopping them is a part of the treaty with Scipio.”
Rachel nodded and visualized the region of space surrounding Scipio. On the rimward side was a no-man’s land of small, independent systems. Beyond them was the Silstrand Alliance—a narrow strip of stability in a region known for general lawlessness.
On the far side of the fringe systems were a series of larger alliances and federations, tucked up against the Hegemony of Worlds and stretching to the Praesepe cluster.
“I remember Tanis’s stories of Silstrand. Parts of it sound nice.”
Terry snorted. “And parts of it sound barely civilized.”
“Maybe that’s just what I need.” Rachel wondered what it would really be like to visit a place where lawlessness ruled. She’d seen them in vids, but her practical experience was much more limited.
“Trust me,” Terry replied. “You’ve not missed much with your sheltered upbringing. Shitty locales are mostly just shitty. Plus, there’s the whole part where I have to send a security detail with you and worry that you’re going to get killed the whole time.”
Rachel laughed and shook her head at Terry. “You worry too much.”
“Of course I do. That’s my job. Now go fly your starship from your big chair. We’ll find whoever let Elena out. I promise.”
Rachel didn’t have anything encouraging to say, so she simply nodded and walked out of Terry’s office, eyeing everyone she passed, wondering if they could have a remnant of an ascended AI in them…making them do things, subverting the mission.
AFTERMATH
STELLAR DATE: 10.08.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Bridge, ISF I2
REGION: Outer Silstrand System, Silstrand Alliance
“So much for a spa-day,” Rachel said as she stared at the holotanks showing the wreckage of the fleets around Dessen.
Priscilla glanced back at Rachel, the woman’s black eyes appearing as endless pools of night on her alabaster skin. “Not a lot of R&R in our future, Captain. I think we may see things like this play out for some time.”
“Us crushing enemy fleets like they’re nothing?” Rachel asked. “It sounds crazy to say it, but I feel bad for them. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”
Priscilla nodded as she turned to gaze at the holotanks as well. “Yes, that is an apt analogy. If the barrel is made of wood, and we have a nuke.”
“I don’t think the barrel’s material matters if we have a nuke.”
“It could be a very, very big barrel…made of some sort of…” Priscilla’s voice faded. “Nevermind. That was getting stupid.”
Rachel rose and walked to the holotank, watching the S&R crews as they scoured the ships for survivors.
Four fleets were spread out near the dwarf planet Dessen in the Silstrand System. The smallest of which was the ISF fleet, a mere forty ships, though all unscathed thanks to their stasis shields. Next were the ships of the Silstrand Alliance Space Force, of which there were only forty-five still intact. Granted, over one hundred were closing in from all around the Silstrand System. Next were the private military ships of S&H Defensive Armaments. While their ships were smaller in mass, there were over a hundred of them. They had taken heavy damage, but it was also their installation on—or, in, rather—the dwarf planet, Dessen, that had been the target.
The last group was the Revolution Fleet. Hundreds of ships, most massing far more than even the Silstrand Alliance vessels, yet it was the fleet that lay in ruin.
The battle had been three against one, and though the one outnumbered the rest, when the I2 arrived, the outcome had become a foregone conclusion.
In fact, their greatest struggle in the brief, fierce conflagration, had been to keep the S&H Defensive forces from utterly destroying the Revolution Fleet.
“Those poor bastards,” Rachel said quietly. “Mind controlled and just plain deluded. They didn’t deserve to die horribly just because some crazy man put mind-control mods into all their heads.”
That someone
could even do such a thing with impunity disgusted Rachel. How had the Inner Stars fallen to such barbarism? How was it possible that a man could amass such a fleet, filled with people who hated AIs so much that they’d die for their cause, and no one had stopped him before he got this far?
“Sure is a mess,” a voice said on Rachel’s left, and she turned to see Tanis at her side.
“Ma’am,” Rachel nodded deferentially. “How did your chat go with that madman’s daughter?”
“She didn’t support anything he was doing, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Tanis replied. “She’s the one who killed him and severed his control over his people.”
Rachel backtracked through the battle in her mind. “She got off his flagship three hours before the last enemies were taken out. Did it take some time for people to…regain themselves?”
“Not from what she told us. It seems that there were a lot of true believers who had no need for coercion to hate AIs. I suspect that many of the folks we’re picking up out there required no unnatural influences to take up arms.”
Rachel shook her head. “What a shame. What are your orders, Admiral? Are we going to be here for a while?”
“Well, given that this system is the seat of the Silstrand Alliance’s government, I expect we’ll be here for a bit, yes. The Scipian Special Envoy will need to meet with the Silstrand President and ratify a treaty. Diana requires the Transcend as a signatory.”
Rachel couldn’t hold back a sardonic laugh. “Sounds like the very definition of fun.”
“Isn’t that the truth.”
Rachel glanced at the admiral to see a distant look in the woman’s eyes.
“Still,” Tanis continued. “No matter who wanted us to do what, we did stop a genocidal purge here. I would have done it just for that. Helping sidestep a war between Scipio and Silstrand is just icing on the cake.”
“Sounds like two marks in the win column,” Rachel said, pantomiming making the marks.
“It does, doesn’t it.” Tanis nodded. “You know, I have…interesting memories of this system.”
“This is where you got Sabrina the weapon upgrades so you could rescue Sera, right?”
Tanis gave a soft laugh. “Yeah, amongst other things. Cheeky and I got up to some crazy stuff on one of their stations.”
“You what?” Rachel asked loudly, her eyes wide, before lowering her voice. “What did you do with Cheeky?”
“Captain,” Tanis admonished. “I did nothing untoward with Cheeky. She and I got in a bit of trouble, is all.”
“Now that’s a story I’d like to hear, sometime.”
“Maybe over drinks some night,” Tanis replied. “For now, I’d best go meet with the Silstrand fleet liaison. A Colonel Grayson. He and I have to pay a visit to Smithers in his hidey hole on Dessen. Or in Dessen…whatever.”
Rachel remembered Colonel Grayson. She’d watched him disembark when his ship docked.
“I see that look in your eyes.” Tanis wagged a finger in the air. “I’d recommend against pursuing that man. I’m pretty certain he has eyes only for Kylie Rhoads.”
“Hmm…” Rachel mused. “I suppose it’s not worth it, anyway. We won’t be here long.”
“Stars willing.” Tanis nodded and turned to leave. “Keep me appraised on the cleanup. At some point, Silstrand is going to demand that we turn over all the prisoners, and I want to have a good handle on the situation when that occurs.”
“Of course, Admiral,” Rachel replied as Tanis strode off the bridge.
The admiral gone, Rachel turned back to the holotank, wondering about all those people who had been swept up by Peter Rhoad’s false promises and conscripted in his fleet, only to die here—their cold corpses drifting in the black.
The Inner Stars. What an utter shit-show.
A NEW ASSIGNMENT
STELLAR DATE: 10.09.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Ol’ Sam, ISF I2
REGION: Outer Silstrand System, Silstrand Alliance
Sera stepped off the maglev to see Nadine waiting for her on a bench tucked under a tree at the edge of the platform. The Hand agent—possibly former hand agent—didn’t see her right away, and Sera took a moment to observe the woman.
Nadine seemed older than Sera’s records showed. Tired and sad. Her report on the events of the last month made for an interesting tale, to say the least. Some of it was nearly impossible to fathom—such as Maverick becoming the president of Gedri.
Maverick! Of all people!
Nadine had been sent to the Silstrand Alliance for one reason: get close to Kylie Rhoads and work out a way to stop her father before he massed the fleet which now lay in ruin around the I2.
Instead, Nadine had fallen in love with Kylie Rhoads. Not just for the purposes of the mission, but for real. And in doing so, she had delayed meeting her objective.
Again and again.
“President Tomlinson!” Nadine jumped to her feet and almost saluted before simply folding her hands before herself.
“Agent Nadine,” Sera said as she approached. “I’m glad that we’re able to meet under such serene circumstances.”
Nadine glanced around herself at the forest surrounding the maglev station as though she hadn’t noticed it before. “It’s quite the ship.”
Sera nodded. “That’s putting it mildly. Walk with me.”
Nadine fell in beside Sera as they walked through a shaded path in the woods, neither woman speaking for the span of a minute. Eventually it was Nadine that broke the silence.
“I screwed up. A lot.”
Sera blew out a long breath. “Fucking right, you did. Petra sent you in five years ago. Five years! You could have had Kylie Rhoads back with dear old dad in six months, tops.”
“Never would have worked,” Nadine countered, her tone more sad than hostile. “Kylie was estranged from her parents for a decade. She had no interest in seeing them. Just hinting at her family made her shut down emotionally.”
“Well, in the end, you had to dump her on a ship and send her to her family unwillingly. Seems like waiting didn’t get you anywhere.”
Nadine stopped and turned to face Sera, her eyes narrowed. “Things don’t work so easily all the time in the field. Human emotional responses are—”
“Nadine.” Sera’s tone was frank. “Don’t give me that. I spent decades in the field. Stars, these are my old stomping grounds. I’ve flown every route there is in the fringe. I even know half the captains in Gedri. Drank most of those under the table. So don’t you give me ‘things are different in the field’. You fell in love with Kylie Rhoads. Admit it to me.”
Sera watched Nadine work her jaw for a moment. “Yeah, I did. But it’s over now. She’s done with me, after what I did.”
“You misunderstand me,” Sera said, stopping and turning toward Nadine. “Love isn’t forbidden to us, but we can’t let it cloud our vision. I’m not going to say that everyone who died in this battle could have been saved. Who knows what would have happened if you’d somehow gotten Kylie to her father years ago. Maybe he would have put one of his mods in her head, and she’d’ve been under his control too. But that doesn’t change the fact that you let love get in the way of what needed to be done.”
Nadine’s face had reddened during Sera’s lecture, but she didn’t respond.
“You have something you want to say to me, Agent Nadine?”
Nadine nodded, perhaps not trusting herself to speak.
“Out with it, then.”
“I feel like you’re treating me unfairly. Your record is not pristine—I know about Mark, and how you lost the CriEn module. Rumor always was that you were blinded by your love for him.”
Sera closed her eyes and nodded, feeling the anger spill out of her like a drain plug had been pulled. “And that wasn’t the last time, either. Do you remember Elena? She reported up to Petra before she worked in my office in Airtha.”
“I do, I ran a small op with her once on Alexandria.”
“Ri
ght, I’d forgotten about that.” Sera gave a small nod. “Well, would you believe that she’s imprisoned on this very ship? She’s a double agent for Orion. Killed my father right in front of me.”
Nadine’s face fell. “I had wondered…. I’ll admit, I was scared to ask what happened to your father. He was not universally loved—still, I can’t believe Elena would do that. What prompted her to change sides?”
“Stars if I know,” Sera replied. “Nothing she says can be trusted. She can rot in her cell, for all I care.”
The vehemence with which she spoke surprised even Sera, and she clamped her mouth shut for a moment before giving Nadine an apologetic smile.
“Damn love. Look at what it does to us.”
“Think maybe we should try boys?” Nadine asked. “They’re simpler.”
Sera barked a laugh. “Seriously? How can they be simpler? They never talk. You have to pry everything out of them with a starship-sized grav beam. Besides, remember Mark? Got me exiled.”
“Point taken. But when you do get a man to talk, and you pry his thoughts out, it’s simple, what it says on the tin. Women’re…”
“Onions.” Sera nodded.
“Stinky?”
“I was thinking ‘layered’.”
Nadine’s mouth made a soundless ‘O’, and she nodded.
Sera resumed walking and considered what to say next. Eventually she gave up on trying to find the perfect wording.
“So, do you still want to be an agent?”
“Honestly? I don’t even know…I’ve done so much lying. Now that we’ve begun the unveiling, what does it even mean to be in the Hand anymore?”
“We’re still figuring that out,” Sera replied. “But mostly it’s the opposite of lying. Truthing. We’re truthing all over.”
“A refreshing change.”
“Change, yes. Refreshing, no. You should know this by now. No one really wants the truth. It’s scary, messy. It’s a big disaster, looming in the future. No one is going to be happy to know that they’ve been pawns in a bigger game.”