“Then perhaps a change of tactic is in order?”
“I was thinking the same, but I’m afraid I’m not in command of this fleet. And, frankly, it’s probably for the best.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I’m emotionally invested here. I could decide to go in with the fleet because of my feelings. But what if it was too early and it messed everything up? Like you, I just hate having to wait.”
Daniel nodded. Indeed, if they listened to their hearts they would help Chase this instant, but the consequences could be millions of lives lost on the surface of the planet; or, worse, defeat, which would result in even more casualties over time.
“I guess we have to trust that Chase will prevail.”
“What else is new, right?” said Sarah with a chuckle.
“Evidently not much. How’s Chris doing?”
“Well, from the little I see him he’s doing fine. Argos is pretty confident his fast-aging is a thing of the past.”
“That’s great news. You must be relieved.”
“You have no idea. But as soon as he was up and about, he went to see Kvasir to have Gaia train them both so they could join his father inside Gaia 2’s matrix.”
“He’s his father’s son, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah. I’m not sure how I feel about it, though. It’s hard enough dealing with one man willing to risk his life at every turn. Chris is still so young. He hasn’t experienced what life has to offer, and he’s running towards danger like a kid would rush at the candy store.”
“That’s the world he was born into. But this can’t be easy for you.”
“It’s what it is, I guess. I can’t control either of them. They have to do what they think is right. I’m just tired, Daniel. I haven’t slept well in days.”
“Why don’t you get some rest. I can take care of the bridge for a few hours. Between you and me, I’d feel a lot better if you rested before going into this battle. I have a really bad feeling about this one. No matter how prepared we think we are, how smart the plan is, there are simply too many things that can go wrong.”
“And there lies the problem, Daniel. I don’t know that I can sleep, even if I try. We’re soldiers, and I know it’s what we’ve trained for, but things have kept going from bad to worse for months now. I . . . I don’t know who we’re fighting anymore. One day it’s the Furies, the next it’s an AI intent on enslaving Earth, or worse.”
“Then focus on why we’re fighting instead of who, Sarah. Now, why don’t you go see the doc? Have him give you a mild sedative and get some rest. And no argument. I don’t want to have to relieve you of duty.”
Daniel could see that Sarah wanted to argue, but she was too tired.
“Alright, you have the bridge. Wake me the moment anything changes. Understood?”
“Yep, now go get some rest.”
Cedric’s pain was no longer registering. He didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. Since most of the nervous system feedback inside his body was controlled by Gaia 2, he decided for the former.
Chase is keeping her busy. I’ve got to find a way to help him.
Cedric tried to move a finger but couldn’t. If he could regain control of his physical body, he could find a terminal and start hacking back into Gaia 2’s matrix.
He had an idea. Part of his consciousness must be linked with Gaia’s matrix. So, if he could communicate with her, he just needed to find a way to piggyback that connection and try to affect systems from within. He had no idea how that would work, but it was worth a shot. He was a scientist, after all. If anybody could figure out how to do it, it was him.
He closed his eyes, now that physical pain was no longer an issue. Looking at the flames had been a pleasant and almost calming experience, but he needed to focus on something else now.
He reached out with his mind, trying to visualize the AI matrix code. At first, whatever mental constructs he came up with were blurry and didn’t make much sense. Little by little, as he forced himself to draw a better graphical representation of Gaia 2’s matrix, a pattern started to emerge: lines of communications, CPU and storage nodes, and pathways revealed themselves inside his mind.
He would have to be careful. If he blindly attempted to navigate the data he was getting in his mind, he could alert Gaia 2 to his presence. He couldn’t risk that, so he focused on communication lines, trying to understand how her transmission protocols worked. His best bet was to spoof some of the automatic flow of communication. If he could encapsulate commands inside data packets and make them look like simple keepalive traffic, he could find a way to move inside her matrix undetected.
What do we have here?
Cedric located a repeated data packet and analyzed its content and encapsulation. When he was certain he could spoof the packet to use as a way to transport his mind inside the matrix, he mentally crossed his fingers and created the spoofed packets. He then set the destination to the nearest CPU node. He needed a closer look at it, so he could devise the best way to bring it and the rest of them down when the time came.
It would be a game of patience and slow moves, like chess. He would need to plan many moves ahead before he could go on the offensive, and eventually the kill.
Oryn was now in full control of Miseo’s mind. His aggression was still at the back of his mind, but the drugs made it manageable. She still had the urge to direct him towards the nearest airlock and get rid of him.
Her near-death experience at his hands, all the while feeling how much he wanted to kill her, had rattled her more than she was willing to admit. But he was now an asset she mustn’t squander.
She was getting used to dealing with two distinct centers of consciousness. It was now natural to the point that she didn’t feel the mental strain that gave her headaches before.
She needed to decide whether to stay on board the ship when they reached Earth. She might need to sacrifice the Eternal Wrath at a moment’s notice, and she’d rather not be present in that situation. Since a fleet of ships had been detected vectoring towards Earth, it was a safe bet that a large space battle was about to take place, if it hadn’t started already.
Chase was probably returning to reclaim Earth from that alien fleet of unknown ships that had forced a Fury destroyer to flee.
Better safe than sorry.
She checked the cargo hold for a jump-capable craft and found one. It was a cargo transport with limited weaponry, but that didn’t matter.
She selected a system where she could drop, before sending the Eternal Wrath back on course to Earth, and jumped.
Chase flew back towards Earth after shedding his rock skin and returning to normal size. He could, of course, just teleport back in the blink of an eye, but he missed space so he enjoyed the moment and took that little respite. It wouldn’t last.
He checked in with Kvasir. “How are we doing?”
“You’ve made progress. About forty percent CPU is now utilized solely to deal with your intrusion into her systems.”
“You call that progress? Only forty percent?”
“I’m as surprised as you are. I thought it would go faster. Perhaps we should jump the fleet. This part of our plan is taking much longer than expected.”
“No! She will surely detect your approach. If that happens she could kill way more humans. Anger is a big part of her code. Let’s not taunt the dragon; not yet anyway.”
“As you wish. I’ll keep growing my hack but I can’t go any faster. If I do she might detect me.”
“Do whatever you have to, to stay undetected. Anything else I should know? Has Gaia made progress in recovering her consciousness? She came earlier to help. Surely that slowed her down.”
“We maintain limited communications; I haven’t had a status update from her. For the same reasons as before, to avoid detection.”
They’re walking on eggshells while I throw a crazed, titan-sized Fury into the center of a star.
“Understood. Anything else?”
Of course he does.
That Chris would stop aging fast from now on was the best news of the day.
“Great news about my son’s treatment. Thanks, Kvasir. Not sure about them coming inside to join me, though.”
“Well, seeing how slowly we are making progress, what do we have to lose?”
Chase wasn’t against the idea of backup, but he wondered if Chris was ready for this type of psychological warfare. Chase had had considerable experience dealing with enemies hurting his loved ones in the real world. Enough for him not to go ballistic when Gaia 2 had used that tactic on him earlier. He doubted Chris was mature enough to handle it.
“Negative. Nobody else enters the matrix without my direct consent. Understood?”
Kvasir stayed silent.
“Kvasir?” Chase insisted. “Please confirm?”
“Understood, Captain. Good luck.”
“To us all.”
Everything changed around Chase as he approached Earth’s atmosphere. All of a sudden he was sitting in the captain’s chair on board the Hope. A flurry of laser streaks impacted the shields and three exploding torpedoes rocked the ship. The last impact generated short circuits and sparks in a couple of places around the bridge. Lights blinked for a moment.
“Shields are at seven percent,” said a crewman at the weapon’s station. His voice was familiar.
Chase turned to see himself at the console.
What the hell?
“We can’t take much more of this, Captain,” added the crewman.
“Multiple vessels on approach vector. We’re surrounded,” said another crew member.
He, too, was another instance of himself. Chase glanced around the bridge and all he saw was himself—different uniforms and haircuts; some with facial hair, some with glasses; but the whole crew consisted of men who looked and sounded like him.
What is that supposed to mean?
He remembered Kvasir’s advice about getting more involved with the situations he was presented with, and right now that meant taking care of business in a space battle.
But what was he to call his crew? How would he address a single crew member? He could just link mentally with the ship, but that didn’t feel like the right approach.
He looked at the uniforms, and decided to address them by rank, simply adding his last name.
“Lieutenant Athanatos, divert power from life support to the jump engines.”
“We can’t afford to flee, Captain. Earth will be destroyed.”
Chase looked at his instruments and confirmed they were indeed battling in orbit of Earth. Five Fury destroyers were firing on the Hope, with only debris and a graveyard of Earth Alliance wrecks or disabled ships around them.
They were the last ship standing.
Time to use my imagination once more, I guess.
Chase imagined the fleet receiving reinforcements, and immediately hyperspace windows opened all around. Droxian ships emerged.
“We’re being hailed,” said a crewman.
“On screen.”
The holo-screen filled with the image of Ryonna.
“Looks like we’ve arrived just in time, Captain Athanatos.”
Why Ryonna would be captaining a ship Chase didn’t know, but his subconscious must have provided him with familiar faces, close friends he could always depend on.
“Thank you, Ryonna. Let’s concentrate our forces upon one target. Time to thin out the herd.”
“Lock primary guns on the nearest Fury destroyer and transmit firing data to the Droxians,” said Chase.
“Target acquired and data transmitted.”
“Fire!”
The powerful Damocles plasma canon of the Hope fired an intense beam of energy towards its target, draining its shields. Meanwhile, the Droxian ships adjusted their vector towards the target and each fired a full salvo of torpedoes.
The Fury destroyer’s shields failed. Multiple torpedoes hit home and the Hope’s plasma beam cut through the ship. It exploded with a white flash that illuminated the bridge.
“We have a kill,” cheered the crewman at the weapon’s console.
The Hope’s shields had recharged to twenty-five percent. That was still low, but they were in a better position than a few moments before.
Chase felt his spirits rise. He had always loved the thrill of the fight, whether inside a StarFury or in the captain’s chair of a destroyer.
The battle raged. When his Droxian support fleet dwindled in numbers, new hyperspace jump points opened and the Destiny battlegroup emerged to engage the remaining three Fury destroyers, again leveling the playing field.
When they were down to the last Fury destroyer, both the Hope and the Destiny concentrated their main guns to bring it down in a beautiful display of burnt metal and red-hued flames.
Then a massive Fury ship jumped in. The Fury super-destroyers were the biggest ships Chase and his friends had ever faced, but the size of this new ship defied belief.
Each time it fired at a target, it destroyed the ship with a single shot. Soon all that remained of the fleet were the Hope and the Destiny. No matter how much firepower they threw at it, its shield didn’t bulge. But the Fury monstrosity didn’t pay attention to their ships. The Earth Alliance destroyers were inflicting no more than a mosquito bite on its shields and advanced armor.
Was it all a metaphor? Chase wondered.
In a way, it summed up Chase’s life since the fall of the Star Alliance. They kept fighting, adding new allies. But then new enemies came along, with more advanced technology and greater firepower. The cycle repeated itself, and Chase never felt that they were making substantial progress.
And now this monstrosity of a ship that seemed impenetrable no matter what they threw at it, was marching toward Earth, seemingly unstoppable. It felt all too familiar to Chase, all too grounded in real life.
They had repelled the enemy so many times. First, the Obsidian aided by the Zarlacks; then Argos and more Zarlack ships; and then the Furies, with the involuntary help of Gaia 2. Then, with the help of the Olympians, they rescued Kvasir and the admiral’s First Fleet.
This monstrosity of a super destroyer was just an image representing the next big threat, but Chase understood its meaning. The fear deeply rooted behind this particular illusion. Would the fight ever stop? Would they ever prevail or would there always be a bigger ship, a bigger threat?
His understanding of the metaphor changed when the massive Fury ship turned into a face. Cedric’s deformed face, invaded and butchered from the inside out by Gaia 2.
Oh boy!
A terrible dread filled Chase as that floating head made of flesh and cybernetic implants opened its mouth impossibly wide and swallowed the Earth whole.
10
Cedric was traveling inside Gaia 2’s matrix and kept learning as he went. For now, he was mostly a witness, trying to understand how she worked before he could move and try to affect her programming.
He would be detected if he acted too early so, for the time being, he was content to form a clearer mental map of Gaia 2’s consciousness.
It was overwhelming. Cedric didn’t think his own mind could cope with the scope of the data and functions he was witnessing. Perhaps his own cybernetic implants, those Gaia 2 had used to change his body into a bloody cyborg, were responsible for his ability to deal with all that data.
It made sense.
Then something caught his attention. A packet of data in his vicinity seemed to act outside the flux of information. He decided to take a closer look.
When he diverted his focus to analyzing the data packet, he received a ping from it, and that froze his blood. Why did this particular, out-of-place data packet try to contact him? Was Gaia 2 aware of his presence? The thought elevated Cedric’s anxiety.
If he was discovered now, s
urely Gaia 2 would crush his attempt at interfering. So he ignored the packet and resumed his course towards the next CPU node. But the packet changed course, followed him and pinged him again.
It was risky but his gut feeling told him to acknowledge the ping. Communication was established between him and that rogue data packet.
“Identify yourself. Are you the one they call Cedric?” Text appeared in Cedric’s mind.
“Who is this?” Cedric sent back.
“My name is Kvasir. I’m currently trying to hack Gaia 2’s matrix.”
Who the hell is Kvasir?
Was Gaia 2 masquerading in an attempt to locate him inside her own AI matrix?
“I don’t know you,” answered Cedric.
“I’m Captain Athanatos’ friend. He tasked me with infiltrating Gaia 2 from within. He told me to try to locate your consciousness while doing so.”
Cedric allowed himself to hope for just a little while, until his paranoid mind brought him back to order.
“Leave me alone. I’ll find my own way out of here.”
“If that’s what you wish. But Chase and Gaia both want to rescue you. Perhaps if we join forces, we could manage a faster hack.”
The scientist in him and his analytical mind took over. If this was Gaia 2, why would she try such a tactic? She had so much processing power that she could simply close his path, trap him in a demilitarized zone of her matrix and lock him forever from access. Or just send that destroy function she had threatened him with earlier. Whatever or whoever this was, it seemed unlikely it was Gaia 2 masquerading as an ally.
“Very well, I’m listening. But first I think a more formal introduction is required,” sent Cedric.
“In a nutshell, as we don’t want to engage in an unnecessarily long transmission. Chase, Chris and his friends found me on a planetoid where my people, the Asgardians, had marooned me for a very long time. They rescued me, and when I told Chase of my in-depth knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence, he asked for help.”
An Asgardian?
It didn’t seem too far-fetched; it had always been Chase’s goal to make new alliances. Perhaps they had struck a deal with the Asgardians. During his torture session, Cedric had lost track of time. How much time had passed?
Armageddon Unleashed (Universe in Flames Book 7) Page 12