Errant Contact

by T. Michael Ford

“It’s good to be home,” I affirmed honestly and canted my head at her. “But, hey, go easy on them, alright? They haven’t had a chance to pick up on your…ahem…unusual personality yet. They mean well.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “So, how are things going with Kodo? I want the real version.”

  She blushed crimson and stood there for a second, quivering. Finally, she could contain herself no longer and, bouncing up and down, let out a high-pitched squeal. “He told me he loved me!” she gushed happily.

  “Really?” I laughed, joining in her glee. I would have loved to see that; Kodo displaying any emotions at all was extremely rare. Something monumental like this must have been off-the-charts crazy! Despite my personal feelings for Kodo, I was happy for her, and deep down, I knew his place was at her side, not mine.

  “Yes, he even admitted that he has been in love with me for years now.”

  “And you were surprised by this?”

  She looked confused. “Well, yes, there are many great friendships between synthetics and Quetanae, but love? I had always harbored a secret hope, but I truly expected to carry that feeling to my own grave.”

  “Why? Even a dim-witted human like myself could see the connection between you two. He is so into you, it’s ridiculous. And you never seem to be able to keep your eyes off him.”

  She shook her head thoughtfully. “Being ‘into’ someone is one thing, but that someone being from not only another species but not even a living, breathing organic is completely different. Sure, other organics pair all the time, even ones who aren’t genetically compatible, but I have never heard of an organic pairing with a synthetic. My people would be scandalized.”

  “Kalaya, you two are perfect for each other; don’t worry about that kind of stuff. If anyone can make this work, I know you two will. Besides, with all his enhancements, Kodo is practically half-synthetic anyway. I mean he bleeds nanites for cripes sake!”

  “I know! Isn’t that the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen?”

  “Umm, well, anyway, I’ll be here with you the entire time to help where I can. I am so happy for you two!”

  She smiled shyly. “You’ve already helped more than you probably know.” She was quiet for a moment, and I saw her eyes moisten as she reached out to try to give me a hug. Of course, her hands just sort of passed through me, but she still leaned her head lightly on my shoulder and whispered, “Thank you, Laree, for everything.”

  Chapter 21

  Kodo

  The next morning, or more precisely, less than four hours later, the entire crew of the Aurora assembled in the VIP mess for one last meal before battle. The humans, Laree, Max, Drik, Elleen, and Hannah all studied me expectantly. From their standpoint, the power of the fleet entering the system above us was unparalleled by any unit of measure they could comprehend. If they succumbed to rational thought, then surely they had to realize they would all be either killed or captured and imprisoned by the day’s end.

  The tactical, battle-trained part of my brain was still chewing over the odds and making plans. Sadly, in a fair fight, the Aurora would be no match for the human fleet, if it were a fair fight. I was sure the saucy blonde synthetic making eyes at me from across the table wasn’t going to play fair. I had often pondered what it would be like to be on her truly bad side; today I would get my answers.

  Focusing my attention back onto the others, I heard Kalaya clear her throat and inform the group that the lead elements of the fleet were entering the system. As always, her voice was rock solid and brimming with confidence. I leaned back against the wall while everyone but Kalaya sat on one side of the large table. On the other side, the synthetic paced energetically, now fully attired in a Quetanae Defense Force uniform with the rank of Fleet Captain. Behind her, a large holographic screen formed on the wall and a wooden pointer slapped soundly from one of her hands to another.

  “As I stated, the human fleet is now emerging from FTL in the zone between the seventh and ninth planets of this system. Obviously, once assembled, they will proceed at top speed here to Fleece. Unfortunately, our window of opportunity to effect an unseen getaway has closed.”

  “Couldn’t we have just left last night instead of sleeping?” Drik questioned.

  Kalaya smiled. “You all, but especially Kodo, needed the rest to combat the effects of cognitive deterioration. Judgment, memory, and hand-eye coordination would have been impaired, and I can’t have an impaired crew, can I?

  “But still, if we had gotten away, there wouldn’t have been the need,” Laree reasoned.

  “Despite our best efforts, the Aurora just wasn’t ready. Overnight testing revealed some additional issues, which the repair drones are just finishing up now. I have begun warming up the lift tubes that will raise us off the surface. There will be a little last minute drone work to clear debris away from the ship’s keel once we’ve lifted off.”

  “So what is the plan? Are you really going to use those cannons against the fleet ships? And what will happen to the Jeff?” Max asked impatiently.

  “The Jeff has also missed their window to escape. Had they disregarded the Admiral’s direct orders and left the system, they would have been alone, without supplies, and isolated. Too far from home no matter what the outcome between the Aurora and the fleet. At least, by staying put as ordered, they have a measure of plausible deniability. It should be noted that the fleet has already stationed a pair of destroyers at the coordinates that you humans refer to as the designated jump point for this system. Apparently, except for scout craft, your ships lack the ability to ‘leave the beaten trail.’ This has effectively blocked the Jeff from using its FTL drive. The cannons you refer to have multiple applications, not the least of which is being ‘a big stick,’ but Kodo and I are not bloodthirsty savages. We will attempt to follow an escalation-of-force protocol that the Quetanae use effectively with pirates. Hopefully, deadly force will be the last resort.”

  I could see the humans nodding with relief. It is one thing to know your associates are in the wrong and deserve punishment, but quite another to imagine them dying in the chill of space, especially those who are just following orders.

  “The plan?” Max reiterated. “I’ll assume, knowing you, that you have things planned out twenty or so moves ahead by now.”

  “Indeed, I have quite a few scenarios, traps, tricks, and subterfuges that should serve as a way to slow things down a bit.”

  “Yes, but how? There are over a hundred ships in the fleet. Even if they respect your cannons, all they have to do is blockade the planet and attack from other angles, won’t they?”

  “Of course. The cannons, as you call them, were built to open up a launch corridor and to help defend the Jeff, which is locked in orbit directly above us. As to the full plan,” Kalaya continued breezily, “well, most of that is still in flux. One of your own historical generals once said, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” But I can divulge something you may find amusing.”

  The screen behind her changed to a full technical layout of the fleet. Ships’ names, fleet designation, weaponry, crew size, and defensive capabilities. You could drill down for more information by simply touching the icon of an individual ship, and the new screens would flip out like pages from a book. Right now, it was a comprehensive diagram of the full fleet.

  Kalaya pointed casually and an overlay of sorts seemed to settle over the screen. The ships were still there, but every ship now had numerous red dots and connected lines scattered across its digital avatar.

  “What are those?” Drik questioned intensely.

  The screen shimmered and a cartoon representation of a small furry creature wearing a beret, sash, and sword sailed across the screen on a rope. Kalaya smirked wickedly as only she can. “Say hello to my minion army! Each dot represents a subverted hamster about to rise up and join its fellow rodents in an uprising against their unjust corporeal oppressors. Viva la revolution!”

  “You infiltrated the entire f
leet already?” Hannah whispered in awe.

  “All but one ship, yes. That one doesn’t appear to have any AI support or even a name - probably a garbage scow. You humans don’t seem to trust your AIs very much as their access is limited to mainly handling data flow and secondary applications. So, sadly, I can’t just turn off the power to the fleet and be done with it. I may have to be somewhat creative in my use of them.”

  “But how did you infiltrate the fleet already if they only just arrived?” Max said blankly.

  Kalaya grinned. “Well, I can’t take all the credit. Laree was key to the operation, after all.”

  “Me?” Laree exploded in surprise, looking around for someone to tell her what she could have possibly done.

  “Yes, you.” A wicked gleam appeared in Kalaya’s blue eyes. “I didn’t need to be a telepath to know that you, Laree, were deeply hurt when we decided to send you back to the Jeff. Max and Drik, not so much. You questioned why you had to leave; you probably even thought about making a run for it to stay on the planet at some point. You were even more puzzled when I helped you facilitate an escape to come right back here to us. It was all quite logical, I assure you; I needed you to make a delivery!”

  “Huh?” they all said in unison. I only smiled and reclined further back in my chair to watch the rest of the show. Kalaya now had two more images on the screen; one was of Laree’s tablet and the other was my fun black cube.

  “I needed to get both of these items onto the Jeff and you were the best option to do it without suspicions from your military about our real goal. The fact that you were unaware of the plan meant that you couldn’t inadvertently reveal something you shouldn’t.”

  “So the whole ‘we are sending you back for your own safety’ routine was a lie?” Laree responded with a quiver in her voice as she shot me a reproachful look.

  “No, Laree, not entirely,” I said. “If things had worked out differently and we could have gotten the Aurora underway before the fleet arrived, The Jeff would have been exactly the place you needed to be. But things didn’t work out as I had hoped so we had to proceed with plan B – Kalaya’s way.”

  “So you let her set mechanical spiders loose on our ship?”

  “No, the tablet was mine,” the synthetic interrupted, chuckling and pointing a finger at me. “The spiders were all him. Would you care to take over this part, my love?”

  “Might as well.” I got up, walked to the front of the room, and took over the presentation. Kalaya slid into my vacant chair, placed her elbows on the table in front of her, and resting her chin on her hands, looked up at me adoringly. It occurred to me that I could get used to being looked at like that.

  “Alright, the cube that Laree brought onto the ship was designed to be an insurance policy for the Jeff in the event everything went wrong and we were forced to fight.”

  “Wait a second…you made those things?” Drik asked.

  “Yes, they are a form of swarm bot, simple by our standards but just the thing for this application.”

  “What are they, exactly?”

  “You would probably call them infiltration drones, something like that. However, we simply refer to them as Shredders.”

  “Shredders? I’ve seen them – more like spiders from hell,” Hannah frowned.

  “Indeed. Our people used them quite effectively as an anti-piracy weapon. We sent out drone ships disguised to look like luxury yachts into the space lanes where pirates were known to lurk. When captured, they would stealthily release their payload of shredders into the pirate ships. The bots would spread out, self-replicate, and infest the vessel, even the entire pirate fleet. A few days later, depending on programming, they would go feral and destroy everything they encountered – cabling, life support systems, reactor cooling conduits. They were responsible for nearly eradicating piracy in several quadrants.”

  “And you put these on our ship? Kodo, we have friends there!” Laree gasped.

  “Relax, Laree. As I said, these units are old tech. One of the projects I worked on as an intern in college was to see if the shredders could be adapted to other applications than just sheer destruction.” Schematics and vid clips of my experiments flashed up on the screen. Most of my audience looked impressed when one of the vids highlighted the small bots tearing down a non-functional motor and rebuilding it as a functioning motor that was lighter, more energy efficient, and more powerful than the original. All without outside guidance.

  “As you can see, I was able to expand the possible uses for the devices.”

  “So now, instead of just eating ships, they can repair them as well?” Elleen asked hopefully.

  “Repair and modify. Most of our smaller ships had cubes like I gave Laree on hand as last resort fire control teams.

  “So why are they on the Jeff then? She isn’t damaged, at least not yet.”

  “No, they are there to give the vessel a much-needed upgrade. If shooting starts, your ship would probably not survive. I gave the Jeff an edge and a possible way out of harm’s way.

  “And my tablet gave us a way to communicate with Captain Kumeiga, bypassing normal channels that could be compromised by your military,” Kalaya chimed in.

  “But how could you have known the Captain would even get them?”

  Kalaya laughed aloud. “That was easy! I calculated there was a 91.7% chance that Max would turn weasel and do exactly what he did. He honestly believed he was protecting Laree, so it was money-in-the-bank, as you humans say.”

  With gape-mouthed stares, the humans alternated between Kalaya and me, probably trying to divine the truth of the situation, or perhaps not really wanting to know. Suffice to say, that was all we were going to give them at this point.

  Kalaya interrupted the silence, “Time is growing short, and we are receiving a transmission.” I nodded and switched places with her again, letting her handle the show. The screen behind her shimmered and we were looking at the bridge of the Geoffrey Laird. From the narrow angle and the fact that we couldn’t see the front half of the room, it was clear that the tablet was mounted on some type of stand positioned directly in front of the Captain’s chair

  “Captain Kumeiga, good to see you again.” Kalaya stepped in front of the screen. “My apologies for the delay.”

  “Captain Kalaya,” he returned with a respectful nod. “It is good to see you, too. And not to worry, the fact that this tablet can even perform transmissions like this is impressive enough; I can deal with a minute’s wait.” He looked behind her at the rest of us. “Kodo, nice to see you; and I notice that my crew made it there safe and sound. I’ll admit there was a moment of consternation when the shuttle started pinwheeling wildly through space.”

  “That’s what happens when a man drives and won’t stop to ask for directions,” Hannah muttered resentfully. The sensitive microphone picked up that comment, and I saw the edges of Kumeiga’s mouth curl up in a slight grin. Max’s habitual scowl just got more intense in return.

  “Not to worry, sir. I was well-prepared for that possibility,” Kalaya said with a knowing smile.

  “I assumed that you were; you do seem to be a few chess moves ahead of us at all times.”

  “I do try. Unfortunately, you can’t plan for everything. Let’s just hope that I planned enough for this.”

  “I hope so as well. My engineers report that your drones have completed their work on schedule as you predicted. They are not sure exactly what that work is, however.”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t told them, Captain,” Kalaya said levelly.

  “They don’t need to know just yet. Besides, if I told them, they would spend all their time trying to figure out how the drones accomplished it. Instead, I need them preparing the ship to take damage if the worst happens. All personnel, except bridge crew, have been instructed to wear their emergency EVA suits and keep their headgear handy for the duration. We may not have teeth, but the Geoffrey Laird will not just lay down and die either.

  “Glad to hear th
at things are going well on your end. We have completed all critical repairs to the Aurora and have started the lock and warm up sequence.”

  “Lock and warm up sequence?” Kumeiga questioned, somewhat surprised.

  “Yes. As you may have surmised, it’s not a simple task for a ship this size to land and take off from a planet. The structural stress could tear the Aurora apart. One of the methods our designers used to combat these stresses were specialized plates that slide through the most vulnerable areas and lock together to add rigidity. During normal operations, these plates are retracted because they block some of the passageways and interfere with manufacturing.”

  “Those would have to be some plates.”

  “Indeed. Additionally, the lift engines need to operate at peak efficiency; you can’t just flip a switch and take off. The Aurora was only supposed to land planet-side once or perhaps twice in its service life, unlike a shuttle. This is a pretty big deal. One other thing I should probably mention, I’ve never flown a starship before. Once we are back in space, the fleet will no longer be as much of a threat to us since we will have full shields and our speed is vastly greater than theirs is.

  He nodded. “And our agreement?”

  “We will uphold our part.”

  Suddenly, the communications officer from the Jeff swiveled around and interrupted our conversation. “Sir, high priority transmission from the fleet for you, sir.”

  “Put it on screen,” said Kumeiga. He didn’t end our transmission; he just motioned for us to remain silent. We could hear the fleet admiral, but we couldn’t see him. That was until Kalaya pulled up another screen showing the other side of the conversation. It wasn’t a surprise that she could do that; by now, she had her tendrils in every facet of the science vessel. What was surprising to me was how calmly Kumeiga was taking all of this. I think if the situation was reversed and some aliens that I just met took over control of my ship, I would definitely have some questions!

  Admiral Kittson appeared on the new screen next to the image of Captain Kumeiga. He looked just as pissed off as the last time we eavesdropped on his conversation with the Jeff. “Captain Kumeiga, as you no doubt know, we are now in system and are ready to take over this operation from you.”