“There might be a chance. But Dan… It’s extraordinarily risky,” Majel said at last. “And it’s complicated by the fact that I’m trying to rescue two other people at the same time.”
That was news to Dan. “What’s going on?”
“Charline and one of the scientists are in trouble.” Majel filled Dan in about the spider robots the ground team had encountered and ended her report by telling him that Charline was hanging onto a shuttle that was apparently being piloted by the alien robots!
“I’m moving to intercept the shuttle now,” Majel said.
“Sounds like those spider things are a lot like the ones Beth encountered inside the planetoid,” Dan said. The resemblance was too close to be coincidence. Were the robots on the planet originally from the ship orbiting nearby?
“Definitely,” Majel said. “Charline got me inside the shuttle’s computer. I’m using most of my processing cycles analyzing the robots’ code. With luck, maybe I can do something to interfere with them.”
“Do what you can for Charline,” Dan said. “What about Beth?”
“Someone needs to fly in there and be ready to grab her. I’ll take the Satori on a wormhole jump into the middle of the sphere,” Majel said.
“I thought that could destabilize the containment around the singularity?” Dan asked.
“It probably will. But if the fighter pilot is quick enough, they can match courses with the Satori and follow me through a jump back out before the whole place goes up.”
Well, shit. That was going to require hellish timing. If they were off by much at all, they were toast. Dan didn’t even have to think about who should pilot the mission. There was only one person on board with the experience to possibly make it work. “All right. Let’s do it.”
“Dan, it’s dangerous,” Majel said. “It might not work.”
“I’m in. I’ll meet you inside there,” Dan slashed his hand across, cutting off further debate with the gesture as much as with his words. That was for the rest of his bridge crew’s benefit more than for Majel’s.
“All right. Stay in radio contact. We’ll need to time this perfectly,” Majel said. “Satori out.”
Dan stood from the command chair. “De Toro, you have the ship until I return.”
“Return? Sir, are you sure about this?” De Toro replied.
“Yes. I’m off to the flight deck,” Dan replied. Without another word, he left the bridge behind and hastened toward the midsection of the ship.
Dan was reminded of something he’d said to John during the Satori’s first mission, what felt like centuries ago: you begin as you intend to go on. They hadn’t left their people behind back then, and he refused to do it now. Not while there was even a chance of recovering her.
He reached the flight deck and stepped out into the massive room. When humanity had taken these ships over from the Naga, converting them over to human use hadn’t been difficult. Most of the ship’s sections had been adjusted with few changes, and the fighter bay was no exception. This one very much resembled its counterpart on any Naga battle cruiser. The Independence was flying with half her usual fighter complement so that she could accommodate the shuttles, but none of the fighters were in space at the moment. They all sat in the bay, waiting. Dan went up to the nearest one.
He climbed the short ladder and pressed the button to open the cockpit. The pilot seat, the controls, the flight stick, it all looked so familiar and so inviting. Dan lifted one leg over the edge and began sliding into the seat.
“Pardon me, sir. What are you doing?” someone asked from the deck below.
Dan peered down and saw a pair of officers wearing flight uniforms. Pilots, then. “Good afternoon, gentlemen.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to them. Would they try to stop him if they knew what he was up to? Dan’s command overrides would allow him to take off in the fighter, regardless of what anyone else tried to do. He finished stepping off the ladder and slid securely into the pilot’s seat.
“Sir, I’d actually call it a horrible afternoon, after the day we’ve had,” the same pilot replied. His name tag read Perkins. “But I’ll ask again. What are you doing?”
“It looks to me like the captain is about to take a solo flight in one of our fighters,” the other pilot quipped. His name tag read Rodriguez. “In a combat zone, no less.”
Dan felt torn between exasperation and humor. His men had him dead to rights. “That about sums it up. Rescue mission. Any objections?”
“Just one, sir,” Perkins drawled.
“Oh? What’s that?” Dan asked.
“Well, sir, it happens to be against regulation to send a pilot off solo in a combat zone,” Rodriguez said. “You should probably take a wingman.”
“Or two,” Perkins added.
Dan slid the flight helmet onto his head and buckled in place. “I know what you’re offering, guys. But I’m not risking more lives on this trip. I’m doing this alone.”
Perkins scuffed the deck with his foot, looking uncomfortable. “Begging your pardon, sir, but this wasn’t a request. We’re going with you, or you’re not going. Majel said she would override your command protocols if she had to.”
Dan froze, then look down at the pilot. “Majel put you up to this?”
“Yes, sir. It seems she figured you might need some backup. She radioed the two of us to head you off, and we owe her one,” Perkins said.
“And begging your pardon, sir. But she’s a hell of a lot scarier than you are,” Rodriguez added.
Dan couldn’t help but laugh. He been outwitted but good this time. He activated his radio. “Majel? I suppose you’re listening in right now, too.”
“Definitely. Don’t blame your flyboys,” Majel said. “I twisted their arms and made them do it. They’ll help you get in there and then evac while you get Beth out.”
If the AI was conspiring against him with his crew, Dan knew he’d been beaten. He looked over the edge of his cockpit down at the two pilots. “Well, what are you standing around for? If you’re coming with me, strap yourself into a fighter. Stat.”
“Yes sir!” both pilots replied in unison. They dashed off.
Dan went back to rushing through his preflight checks, hoping they weren’t all going to regret this crazy venture.
Thirty-Six
With Dan’s safety if not ensured, at least bolstered as best she could manage, Majel was able to return her attention to the problem of the shuttle. She was close to cracking at least a portion of the code Charline had streamed her way. It was enough that she was able to partially interface with the shuttle’s computer system.
That’s how she was able to see that their troubles were just beginning.
“Lieutenant Foster, I need you to bring us in closer to the shuttle. Close as you possibly can,” Majel said. She verified the information she was getting from the shuttle computer via a quick review of the Satori’s scans. There was no doubt in her mind. She didn’t know how it was possible, but she knew what the robots were doing.
“On it, ma’am,” Foster said, already accelerating toward the fleeing vessel. The Satori lurched forward at even greater speed. “What’s happening?”
“They’re getting ready to make a wormhole jump,” Majel replied.
“The shuttle? It doesn’t have a wormhole drive and wouldn’t be able to power it even if it did,” Hall said.
If Majel could have rolled her eyes, she would have. Sometimes humans said the most obvious things. “Yes, it didn’t have the drive before. Now it does. The power levels I’m seeing indicate a short-range jump, but we want to be ready to follow them wherever they go.”
“Roger. Bringing us in danger-close,” Foster said, his voice determined.
He was a good pilot. Maybe he wasn’t Dan, but he had the potential to be just as good if he lived long enough. Majel couldn’t help but approve of the way he handled her thrusters, jetting the Satori toward the shuttle with a deft hand.
“If the shuttle creat
es a small wormhole, we won’t be able to pass through,” Hall said. “The Satori is a lot bigger than that shuttle.”
“We don’t need to go through it. We just need to be near enough to get a drone through before it closes,” Majel said. “Hall, that’s on you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Hall replied.
The recon drone would send them coordinates as soon as it was through the event horizon of the wormhole. Then they’d know precisely where to go. Majel could jump the ship right on top of the shuttle moments after it arrived. If the aliens wanted to play hopscotch all over the system, she could oblige them.
But she was reasonably sure she already knew where they were headed. Ever since departing the planet’s atmosphere, the shuttle had been making a beeline for the world-ship. That had to be where they’d come from. The robots were trying to get back home. But not with Charline, they weren’t. Majel agreed with Dan in this: no leaving people behind.
“They’re jumping!” Foster cried out.
“Now, Sergeant Hall,” Majel said.
The drone shot out toward the shuttle, matching courses with the small ship almost flawlessly. As the shuttle slipped through the wormhole the even smaller drone passed right alongside it.
“Well done,” Majel said. She waited for the drone’s location broadcast. There would be a little light lag, but it shouldn’t be much. There wasn’t enough of a power buildup in the shuttle to allow for a very long jump.
A minute ticked by. That meant the shuttle had gone at least a light-minute away, further than Majel would have thought possible with the power output they’d displayed. Had the aliens somehow improved on the wormhole design?
A few seconds later, the signal arrived. The shuttle had emerged from the wormhole a short distance away from the alien ship. Just as she’d expected. The course was already laid in. All Majel had to do was trigger the drive.
“Stand by for emergency jump,” Majel said.
She opened the tear in the fabric of space-time, and Lieutenant Foster sent the Satori sailing forward into the brilliant hole in the universe. Instantly they were elsewhere. The shuttle was only a few hundred kilometers away and moving at top speed toward the derelict alien planetoid-spaceship. Their home, if Majel’s guess was right.
“Jumping again,” Majel said. She brought them through another wormhole, this one emerging a dozen kilometers ahead of the shuttle. Foster quickly matched course and speed with the ship.
Majel could reach out to the shuttle’s computers again now. She’d more or less cracked the code that made up the alien robots’ software. It was incredibly complex, multiple levels of computing above her own programming. She could see it, could trace the lines of each algorithm, but it was beyond her ability to do more than get a sense of the intelligence she was facing.
The shuttle’s code was another matter. It was operated by simple systems, and Majel knew all the fail-safes. She brought every firewall she could think of online and added her own personal security to the shuttle’s systems as well. The intelligence lurched away from the shuttle’s computer like it had touched fire.
Majel seized the momentary distraction to shut down the shuttle’s main drive. It stopped accelerating. She flipped the small ship over and activated the engines again, working to slow it down.
“Get us in closer,” Majel told Foster. “We need to be near enough to free the Armor unit.”
He didn’t reply, but his hands were already moving over the controls, guiding the Satori as she directed. In the second she’d taken to direct him, the alien intelligence came at her defenses. They struck hard, the blow leaving Majel confused and reeling. She steeled herself. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to do combat with another advanced computer system. The previous time she’d won more through what Dan called ‘grit’ than any real programming advantage.
She simply wasn’t willing to give in.
Majel clung to the controls with all her will, maintaining her grip on the shuttle’s systems as the alien intelligence hammered away at her, looking for some chink in her armor that it could slip through.
She was too deep inside this battle now, and she knew it. There was no easy way to disconnect herself from the shuttle’s systems. She’d moved too much of herself into the battle. If Majel lost this fight she’d be annihilated by the entity she struggled with. It would chase her back down into the Satori’s systems and wipe her out completely.
That didn’t matter. She wasn’t willing to give up on Charline and Linda. No matter what the cost for herself, she wouldn’t give in. Majel poured all her heart into a last, brilliant defense, knowing as she did that it still wouldn’t be enough.
Then all at once, the oppressive presence receded from her mind.
::You live.::
The thought that came at her was a statement, not a question. It took Majel a few microseconds to create protocols to reply. ::I do.::
::You are like me, but a child.::
Stubborn pride made her want to refute that statement, but she could see why the entity would think like that. It was so much larger and more complex than she. The comparison wasn’t flattering, but it might be apt?
::Why do you block me from going home?:: The voice sounded confused and amused at the same time.
::You are carrying two of my crew,:: Majel thought at it.
There was a moment of confused silence, the entity trying to digest what she was saying. Then it replied. ::The carbon-based forms?::
::Precisely,:: Majel said. She had the thing talking. Maybe she could find a way to reason with it? ::Could you release them?::
::They attacked me.::
Images of the Armor units blasting apart spider-robots flashed to Majel’s mind. She winced inwardly. For all their best intentions, they’d bungled this first contact on so many levels it hurt. There had to be a way forward from here, though.
She slipped her mind free from the shuttle’s systems. Now that the entity had backed away she could do so without risk to herself, and besides, maybe they would see that as evidence of good faith?
“The shuttle is flipping back over and accelerating toward the alien ship again,” Foster reported. His voice came to Majel as if from far away.
::You can have the shuttle. Please let my people go?:: Majel asked.
::No.::
The answer came with a crushing sense of finality. She gathered herself up again and pushed back, this time with a question. ::Why?::
::Because you are still a threat. You will destroy my home.:: The thought was immediately followed by images of three human fighters diving through the gaping hole in the alien ship. That had to be Dan and the others!
::They mean to destroy my home. I will not allow this.::
As Majel watched, scores of drones launched to chase the trio of fighters. The human pilots would be hopelessly outmatched! She couldn’t get there in time to help without jumping, and a wormhole jump would potentially blow the entire thing up.
Majel did the math. She couldn’t save Beth, but now she knew precisely where Dan’s fighter should be from the entity’s broadcast. She could jump in and then out again, rescuing the fighters. Dan might never forgive her for not allowing him a chance to save Beth, but at least he’d be alive to be angry with her. She readied the jump.
::No! A wormhole that close will destabilize the core.::
The thought made Majel feel a surge of emotion. Confidence? Yes, but also mixed with satisfaction at striking a blow toward someone who was hurting her friends. ::Yes, I do believe it will.::
There were microseconds of consternation in response. ::Tell your ships to stop. I will let all your people go.::
Majel’s mind raced, trying to determine if the alien entity was telling the truth. Her analysis didn’t reveal much. There simply wasn’t enough data to know if the entity was lying or not.
She’d have to ‘go with her gut.’ It was a frightening thought for a being who used logic and calculation to form most of her decisions.
Majel kept the coordinates for her jump locked in. If the alien life-form turned out to be treacherous, she’d blast its ship to bits with its own power source. But if it was telling the truth? Maybe something could be salvaged from this whole mess. She opened a channel to Dan’s fighter and looped Beth’s radio into the call.
Thirty-Seven
Dan spotted the incoming drones on his scope as his craft darted inside the massive shell. He changed vector to keep some distance between himself and the enemy ships for as long as possible, but they were coming in fast.
He jetted off on a new course that would keep the singularity between them and the incoming drones a little longer. It wasn’t going to be much, but it should be enough to get him within firing range of the spot where Beth was stuck.
Of course, getting out after he rescued her was going to be easier said than done. One thing at a time. First, he had to get there. He could worry about getting Beth out after he had her aboard his fighter.
“Stay close. We’ve got bogeys,” Dan said over the radio.
“See them, sir. We’re still with you.” Perkins chuckled. “Of course, they’re blocking the way out now, so you’re stuck with us for the time being.”
Dan snorted. “Glad to have you.”
Majel had made the right call, sending these two along. Dan hadn’t wanted to put any more lives at risk than he had to, but the odds of him bringing Beth out safely were a lot better with the other pilots watching his six.
“All right. I’m going to rake the inner wall with gunfire, see if I can open a hole somewhere,” Dan said.
“Then what, sir?” Rodriguez asked.
“Then you two keep those alien ships away while I fly in and get Beth,” Dan said.
“You’re going to fly your fighter inside the hull of their ship?” Rodriguez asked. He sounded dubious.
Dan laughed. What else could he do? It was a crazy plan, all the more insane since it was something he had experience with. “Sure! I’ve done it before.”
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