“Yes, actually.”
“Well we wouldn’t do that. We aren’t as stupid as you think we are.”
“I never thought you’ll are stupid. I—“
“That is how you’re treating us. I’m no where near fragile. I took out a Foremid warrior without anyone else around. We all might have weakened it but it was still strong enough to kill me. But it didn’t. I won, I killed it. Then another one with Jack. Just the two of us. Knox and Gale are like super spies or something. Sure they might be old but look at the way they move and act on missions. They were definitely professionals before you were born. Terra and Mark are self explanatory along with Graven. Whisper, Fury and Jeeves don’t even have bodies but have you seen how amazing they are.”
“Yes I have. I just don’t want to be responsible for when something goes wrong.”
“You aren’t. Unless you cause it then I am totally going to call you on it.”
Kat laughs, “Thanks.”
“What a friends for. But seriously what the hell is up with you?”
She sighs, lowering her head, “It’s Tia. It’s been Tia since she came onboard. A queen sized pain in my ass.”
“Why haven’t you put her in her place.”
“I… I don’t know. I've tried but it’s like I have respect for her. She’s the queen of the Eydulan’s. Jinx’s sister. Which I guess is Graven sister now. I’m still trying to cope with everything. Its like losing someone but they are still there. Then learning about my parents like that. I don’t care about myself being half blooded or anything. I stopped care about things like that after I turned into cyborg. It’s my parents and the fact they never told me. Why would they keep something like that from me or did they and I just don’t remember. If I don’t remember how could I forget something like that?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that is what you were feeling. That still doesn’t give you the excuse of wallowing around in your bed for the last three days.”
“It doesn’t?”
Hanna gives Kat the look, one she has used many times herself with Graven and laughs.
“Alright. Alright. You’re right, it doesn’t.”
“Good then stable your dragon and log off this game already.”
Kat recalls Evelynn from her automated attacks after the last troll is killed. Kat and Hanna warp back to Kat’s home point and Kat stables Evelynn. Kat sits up in bed blinking and rubbing her temples. Any time she goes on long gaming sessions like the one she just stopped her head always hurt after. It normally gave her an excuse to stay in the game longer so she didn’t have to deal with it.
“Well Kat, what’s your plan on how to get the cores?”
Kat looks over at Hanna with confusion all over her face. She hadn’t changed her mind on going that she was aware of. Its still just as dangerous as it was one minute to three days ago.
She asks, “What do you mean Hanna? We still aren’t going.”
“So I guess my talk didn’t have any effect on you?”
“Not for that no. It got me off my ass sure but it’s still too dangerous.”
“Ok you must not have been paying attention, so let me tell you this one more time. Your crew can make decisions on their own and are not blind followers. You aren’t some chosen hero with a destiny that we feel compelled to follow out of some sense of meaning or justice. We follow you because you care about us and we care about you. We know our limits.”
“Alright. I’ll concede.”
“Good then follow me.”
Hanna gets off the bed and takes a left out of the door toward the common area. Kat takes a deep breath and pushing herself off the bed. Her muscles are always stiff after laying down for so long. Walking around the corner she sees everyone is already there minus Tia. Thank goodness for that. Hanna brings Kat up to speed on what everyone has been doing for the last few days. Research.
21
Battle station Aphexion is a very public test in the Conglomerate but only within Conglomerate channels. Any information leaks have been met with quick and severe actions. All of which were public spectacles. An example is a man mentions something to his brother about a new ginormous space ship he’s building who isn’t Conglomerate. The man and his whole family were publicly and brutally slaughtered with a live video link to their still hanging bodies.
Kat asks how they even got access to any of this and it was Gale. Who apparently has just as many connections as Knox does. Which brings up the whole wanting to know more about their past thing again but she can’t do that in front of the group. Gale goes through what she was able to find out. There is a lab the ship is designed to protect. Known to the Conglomerate people as project eye. The communications coming from the Aphexion show the Eydulan cores are being used for all kinds of test. The testing causes one to shatter every few days as find the stress and power limitations they have. Which Graven explains that every Eydulan is different and their power is different. Some wield extraordinary power like Jeeves and himself, others can lift no more that a small stone with their power. Which means the scientist aren’t going to find a baseline the way they are doing it.
Kat slumps into her chair, “This is all great information guys. And Gale thank you for getting it all but this doesn’t change anything. We still can’t get in and it’s still too dangerous.”
Mark retorts, “Actually it isn’t.”
Kat leans her head back and rubs her temples, “Why’s that Mark?”
“The Conglomerate has the plans for any citizen to look at and see if there is a job available for them to transfer too. This thing is moon-sized and needs not only skilled workers but just everyday type workers too for food and cleanup. There are restricted parts,” Mark makes air quotes. “But it’s easy to guess what those are. The largest being the engine and the second largest being the lab. There is a small section labeled lab with a large section attached to it which is restricted. My guess is the cores are there.”
“That still doesn’t solve getting in.”
Gale says, “It does when they are looking for special cores. The commander is required to look over them before letting the delivery go. We would be taken to the bridge or his quarters while he inspects them.”
“So you’re telling me all we have to do is tell them we have special cores and they take us to the bridge to see the commander. That has trap written all over it.”
Graven nods, “It does and we will be ready for it. We spring out trap before theirs.”
Kat starts to think they might be able to do this. Sure it still sounds crazy and suicidal but less so than a couple of days ago. Kat looks across at everyone’s faces and sees their resolve. They all want to go.
Kat stands up, “Y’all know that if we do this —“
Hanna interrupts, “Yes we all know, like I already told you.”
“So even if we die or get captured. This is for aliens we don’t even know and can’t bring back to life.”
Graven says, “Not yet. But all we have to do is bring them to Etchten.”
“Or get the Key.” Everyone turns to see Tia standing in the hallway. Kat wonders just how long she’s been there but it doesn’t matter anymore. They are doing this with her.
Kat asks “Did you hear everything Tia?”
“Yes Kat I did. I thought you didn’t want any part of it?”
“I didn’t but it looks like I was being too reserved. We’re doing this.”
Tia bows slightly from her shoulders and faces the ground. “Thank you.”
“Everyone be ready. Supply run in a few minutes once we hit Illusion and I’ll contact Gen so she can get the cores ready for us to transport.”
Once docked everyone rushes off the ship to go get supplies. Ammunition, food, and Mark went to go get some electronics. Saying that he wanted to make a few special things before they get there.
At Gen’s ship they find out that she is working as a pseudo liaison for cores for the Conglomerate. She has a contract with them to deliver anything
she finds significant or special with a recommendation. One she hands over to Kat as they leave for Aphexion.
Kat feels the ship come out of FTL while she’s in the shower. She just stares at the drain as the water runs over her head. So many thoughts racing by about all that can go wrong. She isn’t much concerned about herself just everyone else.
Her eyes shift their focus to the marble piece she has around her neck and twirls it with her index finger and thumb. Gen told her it was good luck for King. It might be silly but she feels King is closer to her with that around her neck. Even if King is literally inside of her.
Jeeves comes over the speaker, “We are within sight of Aphexion.”
“Thanks Jeeves, how's everyone holding up?”
“Everything and everyone are ready. We just need you at the bridge before we can proceed.”
Kat gets herself ready. Graven and Hanna are both on the bridge when she gets there.
Hanna says, “Are you ready?”
Kat nods, “As ready as I can be. Shouldn't you be at your station?”
“The security team would wonder why we don't have at least three people in the bridge area. A ship this size would need at least that many.”
“Oh… Right.” Which Kat had almost completely forgot about. It had been so long since she’s even thought about what a ship without an A.I. needs she would have missed that little detail. “Alright then, Hanna, Graven, to your positions.”
Kat pulls up the view of Aphexion on the main screen. Which after seeing it she wishes she didn’t. It took her a minute to realize that she wasn’t staring at a really close up ship. The giant grey wedge of pie only gets larger the closer they get till it dwarfs the ship.
Looking down at the tablet in her hand with the special permission document, she hopes they just get in the port.
22
A young man in white appears on the main display.
He asks, “What business do you have here?”
Kat answers, “A delivery from Gen, I have the special request form here. She said the captain would want to see them.”
“Please send a copy over and halt any further movement of your vessel till I confirm.”
Kat nods and does as he asks, bringing the Felicity to a halt. She feels sweat dripping down her neck waiting for his return. Keeping her hand over the controls for any sign of an attack.
The young man returns, “Everything is cleared. Please place your ship into autopilot as you're taken to docking bay twelve. Wait there with your cargo ready for escort.”
The closer they get swarms of smaller ships flying to and away from all different docks along the underside come into view. Reminding Kat of a space station more than a spaceship. Once the ship is within a few hundred meters she starts to notice the amount of weaponry along the outside and it’s staggering. There are black lines she saw on the ship from far off but now up close she can see they are an insane amount of cannons. She makes a mental note of them as they close in. Busting out guns blazing won’t really be an option without dealing with them first.
A tractor beams locks onto the ship with a few hundred yards before the bay doors as the autopilot clicks off. Which is another good mental note if they needed to make a speedy exit. Meaning they can’t project the beam out farther than that or they didn’t need to. Kat hoping it is the first rather than the second. Whisper takes care of all the docking instructions as Kat holsters Fury. She didn’t know what the firearms policy is going to be on the ship but she has to try.
Once the ship settles, Kat takes Whisper out of the console. Taking a quick glance down at her side there are all of the magi-tech shells that Wrath made before their trip to Etchten still in their places. With everything that has happened in the last year she hasn’t needed to take both Whisper and Fury out. There was that one time on planet Carter she wished she had them both. It would have made things a lot easier but she was still able to get out of that situation. So this one shouldn’t be that bad. Hopefully.
Kat stands facing the door to the ship from the bridge and pauses. Running through the plan in her head one more time. She trusts everyone on her crew and trust Tia enough that she wouldn’t deliberately screw over her trapped people or her brother. The plan is about as sound as it can be for Trojan horsing into a super heavily fortified base with the potential to make herself a notorious criminal or worse.
The bridge door opens to Gale’s smiling face that changes to a surprised looked. “You’re still here darling?”
“I am.” Kat bow her head and shakes it slightly. “I just… I just hope I’m right.”
Gales soft finger raises up Kat’s chin. “There is no reason to second guess yourself now. We’ve already pasted that point. Now is the time for execution.”
“That’s a poor word choice.”
“Maybe. But if you don’t act that is what will be waiting for us all.” Gale hugs Kat tightly. “Now quit doubting yourself. I didn’t raise a wishy washy daughter.”
Kat smiles. Heading out of the bridge the ship seems to be alive with activity. Everyone is rushing around the ship. Graven and Tia are already waiting for Kat with the package in tow.
Graven asks, “Everything alright Kitty Kat?”
“Yea everything is good. Are Mark and Terra ready?”
“I saw them just a second ago. Once we leave they will head into the ship to browse around near the lab.”
“Good. Gale is already on the bridge. Knox I assume is already in the engine room ready to unplug it at a moments notice.”
“He is.”
Tia crosses her arms, “I hope your crew knows what they’re doing.”
“Oh they do your highness. No need to worry there. Just make sure to do your part.”
Tia hmphs and turns her head toward the now lowering cargo bay door.
As it goes down it reveals ten fully armored people each holding an automatic blaster in both hands. Their armor is mostly white with black trim at each joint and covering the eyes. There is one in a golden suit with red trim. As Kat and the group walk down the ramp the golden armor holds up their palm. Kat stops. A square grid pattern of blue light washes across the helmet, opening up and revealing a red haired and grey-eyed man. His hardened gaze sets in on Kat with a quick glance toward Tia and Graven.
He holds out his hand, “Your delivery notice.”
Kat pulls out the handheld device. She had already looked it over and made sure that the special box was checked.
He looks over the order and gives back the handheld.
“It looks like everything checks out. Your ship can stay docked here and your crew can leave the ship if, and only if, they sign the NDA that is punishable by death. Is that understood?”
“Thats super green.”
The red haired man squints his eyes and replies slowly, “Super green, is that some kind of slang?”
“Not a fan of classic earth movies like The Fifth Element huh?”
“No. Get you package to the hyper lift and take it to the inspection room next to the bridge. Follow the green floor lights, and DO NOT go anywhere else. As a friendly reminder, keep that weapon holstered if you don't want to be shot on site. Is that green enough for you?”
“Crystal.”
The golden armored man puts his helmet back on with a two fingered motion around his ear and takes his troop to the next ship in the line. With so many ships coming and going it should be relatively simple for Mark and Terra to infiltrate.
Graven snickers.
Kat looks over, “What?”
“You actually used a line from that old movie, I thought you didn’t like them?”
“That is like one of about five that were any good. For a 2D classic.”
Tia huffs, “Would you two stop talking and hurry up.”
Kat and Graven turn to see Tia tapping her foot next to the crate as it hovers. Kat rolls her eyes and grabs the handle to the hovercart. It made the most sense for her to push it. Sure there wasn’t any resistance but it i
s still heavy. The Eydulan cores are sealed within a heavy super-steel case to ensure their safety for the trip. The crew didn’t like the idea of using actual cores as bait but they needed to be authentic to let them past the inspection.
Once past inspection the Captain would come out and take them personally with them down to the lab. They needed to watch what s/he does to get into the lab because it should be the same code to get them off the ship. Or at least she hopes thats how its going to work.
Walking through the dock feels like she’s back on Illusion but everything is cleaner. The white floors have no visible dirt or tracks, all of the directional lighting on the floor are all lit and working. A far cry from the grubby dirt riddled docks she’s used to. It could be because its a fairly new ship or it could be the army of cleaning robots that are as numerous as the people roaming around.
The hyper lift is empty. Since it lead directly to the inspection area next to the bridge it makes a little sense but with the amount of people she sees going about their business you would think someone else would be using it. She maneuvers the hovercart into the center, turns it off, then secures it with straps to the ground. Following the signs covering the walls of the lift. Graven and Tia get themselves strapped into chairs along the walls and Kat does the same once the crate is secure.
The lift gives a countdown before taking off and feels like they really were taking off.
A soft female voice comes over the speakers, “Passengers are reminded to please strap down all possessions, hyper lift will be reaching full speed in one minute. Any loose items can cause permanent damage up to and including death upon arrival at our destination.”
Graven says, “Isn't that just cheery.”
Kat jokes, “About as cheery as the NDA that kills you.”
Tia shakes her head and taps her foot. Kat and Graven share a look and then laugh.
Starship Magic 4: Extraction Page 10