Rachel glanced at her PCD and saw a video stream of four security troopers.
“Uh – thanks, Achilles.” It would take time getting used to the voice of what she could only describe as half demon and half drill sergeant. “Do you know where Alistair is? It's almost been an hour.”
“He has retrieved your compatriots and is returning to The Ubik. He will arrive shortly. Station video feeds show that he has not encountered any notable problems during his outing.”
“You can access station security cams?! What kind of ship are you?”
“Request denied. Suspected station security personnel are now interacting with The Ubik. They are demanding to speak with the captain.”
Rachel momentarily froze. This was it. Four potentially corrupt station troopers against her - the odds weren't favorable. She checked the status of her weapon, which was automatically imprinted to her genetic identity, and made her way for the door.
“Suspected station security personnel are potentially hostile. Elevated heart rates and rapid fluctuations of skin temperature indicate high levels of stress. Hostile intentions are the only logical conclusion. Requesting permission to engage the threat.”
This AI was unlike anything else she'd ever experienced. For a brief second Rachel wondered why Alistair had given her access to Achilles' weapon functions, but not his voice modulator.
“No, don't. That would be very bad. We need to wait them out and hope they go away. They must have seen him leave.”
“Suspected station security personnel are aware of Mr. Crowe's departure. Their purpose is you, Ms. Sahlinz, and I suspect I have interpreted their motivation with 95% accuracy.”
“Can you just bluff them away? Tell them you're some kind of special operations ship and that they don't have authority here? Get rid of them without shooting.”
Achilles lack of response was troubling but she watched the video feed and saw all of the troops jump and look up at the ship. He must have been telling them something as they were clearly listening. They all stepped back and walked off, heading back toward the L gate hub where they had come from.
“Duplicitous scheme successful. Suspected station security personnel are departing the gate. They believe we are a special forces heavy attack frigate.”
She didn't know what to say in response. This was all just too much. She decided to wait for Alistair by the main hatch and plopped down against the wall. Her body ached more than she thought possible and none of what was happening around her made any sense. She could wrap her mind around the human trafficking, political corruption, and even the kidnapping. But this ship, its captain, the AI – everything about it made her nervous. Not out of fear, but because it was so contrary to what she has experienced up to this point. She was in an insane man's ship with a borderline rabid AI that had no qualms with opening fire on federal police units inside a space station. That was certain doom as far as she saw it, but least it listened to her.
As she sat pondering just what the hell was going on, her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep. She couldn't fight it anymore.
Chapter 6
Trailed by three more families and the two mothers, Alistair made his way into The Ubik. As soon as the door opened he had a moment of panic when he saw Rachel sitting motionless against the wall opposite the hatch before he realized she was just asleep.
He had a difficult time explaining to her people why they needed to come with a complete stranger but he was lucky that they all stuck together for support. When he told them that he had found Rachel Sahlinz and the missing girls they were all elated and eager to come with him. Maybe they could hear the honesty in his voice or maybe they were just past the point of desperation. Either way it had worked out in the end. He'd convinced all of them to at least come with him to see Rachel and made it very clear that they were free to leave whenever they wanted. The promise of free food probably helped, too.
As they all funneled through the ship's entrance he lightly shook Rachel to wake her up. Her immediate reaction was to swing out, but Alistair saw it coming and jumped back just in time. She looked startled briefly, then relieved when she saw the families coming on board. She jumped to her feet and started hugging them all one by one.
“You did it! Thank you!”
“You're welcome. I know you need your rest, but I figured you'd want to see the girls reunited with their mothers.”
Rachel immediately switched into caregiver mode and went about showing them all to the same crew quarters section that she had been showed to earlier. The reunion between Raya, Lynn, and their mothers was joyous. After being kidnapped, beaten, and stored in a container awaiting sale, Rachel couldn't imagine that things would turn out this well. Standing in the entryway to the mess hall she turned around to again thank Alistair. He was gone, however, and she decided she would see him soon enough anyway. For now her people needed her, and she them.
Chapter 7
Alistair made his way quickly to the delivery point scrawled onto the piece of paper he'd taken from Brick, hoping he had time to finish one more objective before he departed from Alceti Hub for the foreseeable future. He was proud of how many people he was able to stow on The Ubik but now he needed to find a place for them. The corrupt officials of the station had wreaked havoc on his plans and he wasn't anticipating transporting an entire group of wayward souls to another station or planet. Food and supplies weren't an issue but he wasn't a fool – he was a magnet for violence and trouble.
He saw himself as a tool of vengeance, not a caretaker. He lived and breathed to help those in need but his strengths were always of the more aggressive nature. For now, however, he would have to learn to be a good host.
Again he found his mind racing, and decided to focus on the task at hand – Dervish. The drop off location would be defended as heavily as Dervish could afford but Alistair didn't see that as a problem. Station authorities had already visited The Ubik – a fact that Achilles had made him aware of – and those corrupt enough to want to cover their tracks were surely looking for a way to legally board his ship. Any hostile boarding attempt against The Ubik, however, would only end in bloodshed.
Focusing on the task at hand was the best option available as Dervish could not be allowed to live. His transgressions were too many to count and even if he only was able to exact revenge for all those he had hurt, Alistair was determined to do something. He redoubled his pacing and worked his way to the gate and docking bay written on the scrap of paper.
As he hastily walked down the gate, he saw the ship docked at the correct bay with a few obvious thugs standing guard at the ramp. According to the manifest Achilles had sent him, the ship had just docked and hadn't received any cargo shipments yet. It was a cargo ship with life support connected to every cargo pod, perfect for transporting prisoners. Alistair's mind went crystal clear and was occupied by only one thought – murder.
Chapter 8
"Achilles, I can't find Alistair. Do you have any idea where he is?” Rachel was getting worried. Alistair was the one who recommended they leave soon yet he was nowhere to be found.
“Mr. Crowe is returning from an errand and will arrive in approximately five minutes. I am preparing the ship for immediate departure upon his return.”
She winced as the AI responded, his voice still grating. “Thanks, Achilles.”
For once, she was glad it didn't respond by shouting 'you're welcome'. She'd have to ask Alistair to consider replacing the voice modulator with something more pleasant when he got back - maybe a dinosaur screeching or a trash compactor.
Almost exactly five minutes later, Alistair returned to The Ubik and found it ready to depart. He had completed his objective with a nice personal touch added and was eager to ship out before anybody started asking questions.
Achilles had the shuttle prepped and had even received departure clearance, a task forbidden by federal law for AI to be able to do. But Achilles wasn't any regular AI and federal law forbade nearly everything A
listair did.
Once inside he hastily walked toward the bridge even though Achilles was already piloting the ship from its docked position to the departure lane. The clamps were disengaged as soon as Alistair boarded and all they had to do was fly to the exit gate and go on their merry way.
The lanes for ships were essentially massive corridors above the docking backs that allowed small and medium sized ships to safely dock inside the atmospherically controlled docking bays and were secured by large energy screens that kept the entire area from depressurizing. They had actual metal doors as well, but they only closed for emergencies or security purposes.
Security purposes such as the chief of station security entering his office to find the severed head of notorious sex trafficker Dervish propped upright on his desk. Alistair initially wondered the benefits of having kept his trophy to display to other smugglers, hoping that maybe they could be persuaded to change their ways. But the grizzly display for the security chief, the freed workers, and the slaying of Terry and Brick would all be able to point a somewhat clear picture as to what happened. Somebody was sick of the lawlessness and took matters into their own hands. With any luck, the corrupt security officials would at least have to cut their losses and go straight.
It wasn't the most elegant solution and Alistair would have preferred to handle things one by one all the way to the top, but Rachel's kidnapping complicated matters pretty dramatically. He resigned himself to just be happy with the lives he was working to save and hope that the bloodbath he left behind would prove his point.
He relaxed a little in the helm and decided to rest his eyes while his trusty AI companion took The Ubik to a predetermined sector of empty space where they could figure out their next destination. The flight would take twelve hours, after which he was hoping everybody on board would be settled and rested.
“I'm going to rest for a bit, old friend. Wake me if there's anything you can't handle.”
“Affirmative.”
And just like that, he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 9
Alistair awoke to see his hands and legs bound by heavy leather straps in an all too familiar setting. Before he could even come to his senses, a knife was plunged into his right calf muscle. He screamed out in agony, pulling with all of his might to free himself. His assailant twisted the knife slowly while removing it, letting the blade's serration do its job.
His masked tormentor then placed the knife on a tray, grabbed a small flencing knife, and began rending the flesh from his exposed thigh. The pain was excruciating, but a cocktail of stimulants kept him from passing out to the pain. His senses were heightened, which only made the brutal torture more effective.
Blood rushed from his freshly skinned leg as another masked captor approached his left side, grabbed his pinky finger, and slowly removed the nail with a set of pliers.
The overwhelming stimuli made him wish for death, and he pleaded with his captors to deliver it. Their tactic of rigorous brute force before he could understand what was happening, followed by extended periods of cellular regeneration so they could repeat the process was a valid one. It was aimed not at extracting information, but at breaking the will of the torturee. The validity of this specific torture regimen was being tested on Alistair in order to deduce the effectiveness of creating double agents that lack the will to disobey their masters after the fact. The main targets were high ranking federal law enforcement officers and military personnel.
Combined with psychoactive drugs and emotional manipulation, it was a relentless assault on all senses. Just as a rusty scalpel was brought up to his face, he felt a sudden jolt on his shoulders.
“Alistair? Alistair! Wake up!” It was Rachel.
“You were talking in your sleep and you kept jerking around. If you hadn't put on your flight harness, you'd have thrown yourself from your chair. Are you alright?”
He was groggy and embarrassed, but no worse for wear. “Yeah.. sorry. Just.. give me a minute.”
She nodded and handed him a cup of black coffee. The smell was mesmerizing. He smiled and took the cup, clasping it with both hands in anticipation for that first sip after a rough night.
“You've been asleep for about ten hours. We made it away from the station and now we're just floating toward the middle of nowhere. I'll be in the mess hall when you've had a chance to wake up.”
As she walked out of the helm room, Alistair stared at the coffee in his hands. He was glad he was able to get her out of that cage. She was a good person through and through and it showed with everything that she did. The way she cared for the families that the rest of society decided weren't worthy was inspiring and only reinforced his dedication to helping free the oppressed.
He knew, however, that his brutal methods – while effective – were not something most people could stomach. Alistair Crowe was many things, but he was not a psychopath. Brain scans had proved that time and again. Years ago he had dedicated his life to becoming a monster that humanity's worst would fear. Their brutality on the reaches of inhabited space would be answered tenfold, even if he had to mete out the punishment completely alone. And he could never expect anybody else to share that burden with him.
But before any of that could be reasonably pondered over it was time for breakfast. He made his way to the mess hall and noticed that it smelled wonderful. Somebody else was cooking for a change.
Chapter 10
"So you told Achilles to convince them that this was a special operations frigate on a secret mission?” Alistair let out a laugh. It was good to finally have some downtime to get to know the people he'd rescued, even if he considered the socializing to be temporary.
Rachel laughed as well. “They actually bought it, too! Can you believe it?”
“Absolutely, especially because it's true. This is an experimental warship designed for use by Republic Special Forces for electronic attack and countermeasures on rebellious planets.”
At that, Rachel stopped laughing. She stared at him in disbelief.
“That.. can't be true. Why do you have it?”
“Its former personnel didn't need it any more. It's been a few years, though. I assume it's no longer experimental. But I've worked with Achilles to keep its systems up to date, and we've added a few new toys that we've salvaged. I know it's shocking to hear, but I want to be honest with you.”
The rest of the people in the mess hall were all relaxing and digesting the enormous breakfast they had but Alistair's explanation killed any sense of relaxation in an instant.
“You're all on this ship of your own volition – if you want to leave I'm happy to bring you wherever you'd like. But I couldn't exactly explain the ship's origins while we were docked in a major Republic starbase. I just felt like a full disclosure was in order since there's always a risk in piloting a commandeered Republic vessel.”
A sea of speechless faces stared at him, and Alistair briefly thought he'd made a huge mistake.
“So you're a space pirate?!” One of the young boys asked. He'd come in with his mother before Alistair headed off on his final errand.
“I guess technically I've done some privateering. But only when I had to. I'm not out here for the money.” He couldn't help but laugh. Even after living on the streets of a hostile ghetto, the boy still had so much life and curiosity in his eyes. He couldn't have been older than 6.
“All that matters is that you got our girls back and got us off that hellish station.”
Alistair looked over to the new voice and saw one of the women who'd been reunited with her missing child just eleven hours prior. She was still grimy and tired looking. It was obvious that she was up all night with her daughter. She must have been terrified - the widespread sex trafficking epidemic was well known.
“I agree,” said another woman who was sitting next to Raya, one of the other abductees. “We can never thank you enough for getting them back and saving them from .. that.” She started tearing up at the thought of her only family, h
er precious child, going through life in such a dreadful way. And she definitely didn't want to spell out what that was. The older children knew what she meant but there were several younger ears in attendance.
“If there's any way we can help around here, we will. I haven't felt safe like this for a long time.” Rachel finally decided to chime in. It was obvious she had already tasked the rest of the guests with various chores. Breakfast was cooked, clothes were handed out, and all of the dishes were cleaned. “I don't know where else to go.”
Alistair was at a loss for words. He expected them to demand transport to the nearest colony after learning that they were aboard a stolen ship – a stolen Republic warship, at that.
“But if we're staying, Achilles needs a voice change. He's going to scare the children... and adults.”
A few laughs helped ease the tension after Alistair's confession and he agreed. The tension from Achilles' harsh tone helped him focus and reminded him that he always had to be stronger, more brutal, more effective. He was worried that a soft and comforting voice would have left him unprepared for the many trials he would face.
“Enough serious talk for now. Let's all just be glad we're safe and maybe figure out where we're going?”
It was another woman Alistair didn't recognize, but she had a face that told him she was unshakable. She exuded confidence and strength and he wondered why she ended in Rachel's shelter up in the first place.
Once things calmed down a bit, the three young boys on board started bombarding Alistair with questions. What's it like to be a pirate? What do pirates eat? Did you ever have an eye patch? What's grog? He enjoyed the attention from somebody not trying to shoot or stab him for once, and reveled in the chance to understand the very innocence he was devoting his life to preserving. After another half hour of chatting and questions, he had a great idea.
Retribution_Downfall of the Republic Page 4