The Voyage Home

by D. J. Holmes

  “You killed him,” Divar shouted frantically. “Angrave is going to kill you. He’s going to kill both of us.”

  “He deserved it,” Sarah replied. Though she still felt queasy, she had no regrets. “I would do it again in a heartbeat.” With a thought, she ordered Alexandra to release Divar’s collar. As it fell to the ground with a clunk, he reached up and felt around where it had once been. “We are free,” Sarah said. “Remember what I said, I am the Captain of the ship. I have locked Angrave and the rest of the pirates in the shuttle bay. They can’t get out. The ship is ours and we are free from Draxler.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Divar said as he continued to feel around his neck. Looking down at the collar he gave it a kick, sending it flying across the deck of the bridge. “I thought I would die in that thing.”

  “Me too,” Sarah said. “Now we have a chance at freedom, we can both go home.”

  “Can you really fly the ship?” Divar said as he eyed what was left of Draxler’s body. “This is an Elder ship, how is it that you have become Captain?”

  “I don’t really understand it,” Sarah replied. “The ship is run by an artificial intelligence, she calls herself Alexandra. After the previous Captain and pilot of the ship were killed, she says she was awaiting a new Captain. When I sat down in the pilot’s chair, she imprinted on me. Somehow, that makes me the Captain.”

  Before Divar could ask any follow-up questions, a slight buzzing drew their attention to a large basin that sat in front of the captain’s command chair. Moments later, a holographic image was projected over the basin.

  “Greetings,” the image said.

  Sarah hardly heard the words, instead she was drawn to the person in front of her. The woman standing before her looked like Sarah, only there were some subtle differences. In a way, as Sarah stared more closely, she thought the woman looked more like the woman from her nightmare then herself. The woman she thought was her mother.

  “Who are you?” Divar asked.

  “Do you not recognize me?” the hologram asked.

  When Sarah heard the voice for a second time, it dawned on her why she was so familiar. “Alexandra?”

  “Yes,” Alexandra answered. “As Divar cannot receive a neural implant, I thought it would be easier to communicate with him in this form.”

  “You are the artificial intelligence? Why do you look like Sarah?” Divar asked.

  “This is simply a holographic projection. When I interacted with Elders who did not have neural implants, I appeared as a member of their species. I thought it would be easier for you and Sarah if I appeared as someone from her species,” Alexandra explained.

  “Alexandra,” Sarah began, realizing what this meant. “I am appointing Divar as my Tactical Officer and second in command, you are to recognize his authority on the ship.”

  “Your appointment of a new Tactical Officer is recognized,” Alexandra responded.

  “Good,” Sarah said. “Can you train him how to use your weapons in combat?”

  “It should be relatively simple,” Alexandra answered. “Though the skills required to effectively use the weapons on this ship can take months or even years to master.”

  “I’ll have you know I have more than a little experience handling a warship,” Divar said, sounding a little insulted. “I’m sure I can figure out how to fight an Elder ship.”

  “Excellent,” Alexandra said, sounding genuinely happy. “I have a number of simulations I can run with you once you have learnt the basic controls. My previous Tactical Officer had very little interest in developing her skills.”

  Divar took a moment to look around the bridge. “I think given where we are, there’s a fair chance we’re going to have to learn to work together pretty quickly. I’m guessing an Elder ship has never been captured by enemies of the Elder Empire.”

  “I was not aware there were any enemies of the Elder Empire,” Alexandra said sounding concerned. “Is it your intention to attack the Elders?”

  “No, not at all,” Sarah said, thinking she needed to step in to answer that question. “As I’ve already told you, our desire is to return home. I intend to use this ship to return Divar to his homeworld and then to locate my own.”

  “I understand,” Alexandra said.

  “But just out of curiosity,” Sarah continued carefully. “Would you have any problems if an Elder ship attacked us. As Divar said, we’ve never heard of an Elder ship being captained by a Lesser species. What do you think the response of the Elder Empire will be?”

  “Divar is right, no Elder ship has been captained by anyone other than an Elder. I cannot say for sure how the Elders will respond,” Alexandra answered.

  “How likely do you think it is that they may try to destroy you, or board this ship and kill Sarah and I?” Divar asked.

  “The possibility is high,” Alexandra answered. “It is likely the Elders will not want news of this event to spread.”

  “So what would you do if an Elder ship attacked us?” Sarah asked.

  “My new mission parameters are to assist you in getting home,” Alexandra replied. “If we came under attack, it would be my duty to do everything I could to protect you and defeat those trying to harm you.”

  Sarah looked over to Divar with a smile, she couldn’t help adding a wink. “You see, what did I tell you? We’re heading home and we’ve got an Elder warship taking us along for the ride.”

  “Well in that case,” Divar said, looking back to the holographic image. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Alexandra. I look forward to working with you.”

  “And I with you,” Alexandra responded with a smile. “I like this one,” Alexandra said into Sarah’s mind. “He is polite.”

  Sarah couldn’t help but shake her head. Her world had been turned upside down in the last couple of hours. Before coming onboard the Elder warship, she had never heard of an artificial intelligence. Now she was watching one make friends with the only other friend she had in the galaxy. At the same time, the intelligence was speaking directly into her mind. “This is surreal,” she said out loud for the second time that day.

  “You can say that again,” Divar said. “But I’m not complaining.”

  “Nor am…” Sarah began but she didn’t get to finish. A dull rumble sounded in the distance and then the whole bridge shook slightly.

  “What was that?” Sarah asked Alexandra out loud.

  “It was an explosion in shuttle Bay two,” Alexandra replied. “The pirates tried to use the shuttle’s weapons to blast open the shuttle bay doors. They didn’t do any significant damage.”

  “Can you put a force field around the walls of the hangar to protect them from doing any more damage?” Divar asked.

  “I can” Alexandra replied.

  “Do it,” Sarah ordered. “Good thinking,” she said to Divar. “Can I talk to them?” she asked Alexandra. It was time for them to face up to their crimes.

  Chapter 8

  “You can,” Alexandra said out loud for both Sarah and Divar. “If you want, you can put on the interface helmet and see everything that is happening in the shuttle bay as well.”

  “Perfect,” Sarah said as she made her way towards the pilot chair.

  “What are you going to say to them?” Divar asked as he moved along beside her.

  “I’m going to tell them what has happened to Draxler, and then, I’m going to let them know just what I’m going to do to them,” Sarah answered.

  “Which is?” Divar followed up.

  “I’m going to depressurize the shuttle bay and send them all into space,” Sarah said defiantly. “Angrave has threatened me with being spaced often enough, it’s time he finds out just what it feels like.”

  “Hold on, hold on,” Divar said as he reached out and grabbed Sarah’s hand. “We need to think about this more. I know they deserve death, but we might need them.”

  “How?” Sarah asked with more than a hint of disgust in her voice. There was no way she wanted a
nything more to do with the pirates. How could they need them now that they were free and had their own ship?

  Instead of answering Sarah, Divar turned to the image of Alexandra. “What kind of reactors does this ship have?”

  “Anti-matter reactors,” Alexandra answered.

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Sarah said.

  “I have,” Divar said. “Most Tier one, two and three colonies only have access to basic Elder technology. Protector Worlds have more. We have anti-matter reactors on our planet, though we have none small enough to fit into a warship. Anti-matter reactors need anti-matter don’t they Alexandra? I presume you have no capabilities of making your own?”

  “You are correct,” Alexandra said. “I currently have enough anti-matter to travel five hundred light years in subspace. After that, I will have to refuel.”

  “How far is it to Divar’s homeworld of Xenos?” Sarah asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

  “Xenos is in sector one thousand and seventy-six, it is three thousand light years from our current position further out along the Orion Arm,” Alexandra answered. “To get there, we will need to refuel at least four times.”

  “You see,” Divar said, turning back to Sarah. “We’re going to need to stop a number of times and take on anti-matter and perhaps even other supplies. We can’t exactly go cruising up to an Elder controlled colony can we? We would be hunted down within days. We may need Angrave’s connections.”

  “I understand,” Sarah said as it dawned on her just what a task it might be to get home. Worse, she thought. What if my homeworld is on the other side of the Tyrilla Storm, how will I ever sneak past the Elder patrols on the other side of the storm?

  “There is no sense in worrying about hypotheticals,” Alexandra said to her through their neural link. “A good Captain knows when to focus on the here and now.”

  Sarah knew the artificial intelligence was right, with an effort she tried to dismiss her fears. “If we didn’t have to stop for fuel, how long would it take us to get to sector one thousand and seventy-six?” She asked.

  “Good,” Alexandra replied through the neural link. Then she continued out loud via the hologram for Divar’s benefit, “Traveling through subspace would take three months.”

  “Then I guess we have to keep him alive for at least another three months,” Sarah said unhappily. “But let me tell you both now, once we no longer need him, I’m not just letting Angrave go. We know what he is like, if we let him go he’ll just continue to hurt innocent people.”

  “I’m not going to disagree with that,” Divar said. “But if we want to be able to get home, we’re going to need him.”

  “Okay, show me what they’re doing,” Sarah requested as she sat down in the pilot’s chair.

  As the interface helmet came down over her head she closed her eyes. Moments later she felt the spike from the helmet connect to the implant at the back of her skull. Almost immediately, her mind felt like it had been yanked out of her brain and away from her body. The sensation quickly faded and was replaced by a slight feeling of disorientation as she found herself looking into shuttle bay two. The shuttle’s rear ramp was descended and there were number of pirates milling around the bottom of the ramp. There was also a large scorch mark on one of the shuttle bay doors, though there was no sign of any permanent damage.

  “I can project your voice into the shuttle bay,” Alexandra said, speaking directly into Sarah’s mind.

  “Do it,” Sarah thought.

  “Angrave,” she began. “This is Sarah. Draxler is dead. I’ve taken command of the Elder ship. You and the rest of your crew have no control over the ship, not even the shuttle bay doors. You are my prisoners. You will do what I tell you to do or else I will depressurize the shuttle bay and kill you all. In case you don’t believe me.”

  With a thought, Sarah ordered Alexandra to vent some of the air in the shuttle bay. As the faint whistling that every spacer quickly learnt to fear signaled air was rushing out of the shuttle bay, the pirates began to run around frantically. With another thought, Sarah stopped the air escaping.

  “You see,” she continued. “You are at my mercy. Do you understand?”

  As other pirates ran around frantically looking for a way to escape, Angrave came to a halt in the middle of the shuttle bay. Looking towards the ceiling where he obviously guessed there were some kind of visual recorder, he raised his fist. “I understand,” he shouted. “But you’re going to regret this. Mark my words.”

  We’ll see, Sarah thought. “I want you and your crew to toss their weapons beside the access hatch back into the rest of the ship,” she said. “Then, Divar and I are coming in. We’re going to take the gold and the platinum. I want you to unload it from the shuttle and stack it beside the access hatch. You have half an hour.”

  For nearly thirty seconds Angrave and the rest of the pirates were silent. Then they began to argue about what they should do. Sarah vented more air out of the shuttle bay. “I’m not joking around,” she said to them.

  “All right,” Angrave said loudly. “We’ll do it.”

  Sarah watched them quietly as they tossed their weapons and got to work transferring the gold and platinum out of the shuttle. Satisfied they weren’t up to anything mysterious, she ordered the interface helmet to ascend. “Keep an eye on them,” she thought to Alexandra.

  “We have half an hour,” Sarah said out loud for both Divar and Alexandra to hear. “I imagine Divar and I both have a lot to learn about the ship. Let’s make the most of our time.”

  *

  Half an hour later, Sarah stood outside the access hatch to the shuttle bay with Divar. With a couple of taps on the control terminal Sarah opened a COM channel into the shuttle bay. “Everyone move away from the access hatch, line up along the opposite end of the shuttle bay against the wall,” she ordered.

  “They have obeyed the order,” Alexandra said twenty seconds later.

  Sarah opened the access hatch. Carefully, Divar went through first with Draxler’s laser blaster out and ready for use. Sarah followed close behind with her Elder blaster.

  “No funny business,” Divar said as soon as he came into view of the pirates. “Don’t think I will hesitate to shoot you, I won’t. You’ve all made my life a misery over the last year. It would be a pleasure to end you.”

  With their eyes firmly fixed on the pirates, Divar and Sarah kicked the weapons they had piled up beside the access hatch out of the shuttle bay. Then they stepped further into the shuttle bay, careful to keep their weapons raised. “Bring the drone in,” Sarah ordered Alexandra.

  In response to her unspoken command, a drone entered the shuttle bay. It hovered a full twenty centimeters off the shuttle bay’s deck. Though Alexandra had explained something about antigravity technology, Sarah didn’t understand how it worked. It didn’t matter though, it did its job well enough. The drone was in the shape of a sled with two mechanical arms. Methodically, it loaded the gold and platinum bars onto its body while Sarah and Divar watched the pirates. Once it had loaded up Draxler’s booty, it let out a beep to let them know it had completed its mission.

  “Send the drone back to the material processors,” Sarah ordered Alexandra. “Feed as much materials into your processors as you need to finish your repairs, then store the rest.”

  “Yes Captain,” Alexandra replied.

  “Now for the risky part,” Sarah said to Divar.

  Slowly, they made their way across the hangar bay towards Lady Luck’s shuttle. Sarah stayed outside and kept her blaster pointed at the pirates. Divar walked up the shuttle’s rear ramp and made his way towards the pilot seat. Plugging in a small portable computer that Alexandra had provided for him, he downloaded the shuttle’s navigational data. Lady Luck had visited many different pirate hideouts within the nearby sectors over the last decade. Sarah guessed Angrave had made sure most of her navigational data had been transferred onto the shuttle’s computer. With luck, they would be able to identif
y the coordinates of a number of pirate bases they could use to refuel and avoid unwanted Elder attention. Without the information, they would be all but stranded. The location of pirate bases and black colonies were closely kept secrets. She knew that pirates would almost never sell the locations of such systems. When they did, it was for hundreds of millions of credits.

  As Sarah waited for Divar to finish obtaining the data, she eyed each of the pirates. Not one of them would lower their eyes as she looked at them. Angrave was smirking at her the whole time. Finally, he spoke. “You’ve bitten off more than you can chew you know. We’re going to figure a way out of here and when we do, you’re going to regret it.”