“I don’t get it,” the doctor said. “What’s so special about him, aside from that you probably were able to kill him without any real effort?”
“Look at the other two men, Doctor,” Selena instructed.
Fiona looked at the second, then the third, her face getting progressively paler. “Please tell me these men are identical triplets.”
“You know that they are not,” replied the gynoid. “I chose these three because I killed them without shooting them and did not wish to bring you overly damaged specimens. The others looked identical and I concluded that their similarities were more than external. Doctor Kinsale, these men are not marines—marines are recruited, trained and deployed, not grown in a vat. I must unlock the bridge, so please excuse me.”
Selena left as Fiona stood staring at the product of what had been done with her work by the military. The men were each approximately two meters tall, and as robust as a Zduhać. Vat grown super soldiers, she thought. This is as far from my intent as they could possibly have taken my work. She screamed in frustration and despair, collapsing to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
The Selene’s crew saw the bridge door open about twenty minutes after Selena had locked them in. She came floating gracefully through the door. The ship suddenly powered up on her own.
“Please remain seated,” the gynoid said. “Prepare for acceleration.”
“Everyone brace yourselves!” shouted Kendrick over the internal com. “We’re gettin’ outta here!”
As soon as he uttered the words, the engines surged to life and everyone was pinned to their seats as the Selene hit Mach 30. The burn subsided and Kendrick took the engines offline to conserve fuel.
“Captain,” came Heather’s voice over the com, “The burn was successful, but the outboard power couplings are fried! We’re down to one engine.”
“Let’s hope our luck holds,” replied Kendrick.
The entire bridge crew turned to look at Selena. They had watched her on the bridge monitor using one of the cameras on the fuselage as she had gotten them out of danger and back on course for Mars.
“I will not lose you, Captain,” the gynoid said softly. “I dealt with the boarding party, removed the mines from our hull, and returned them to the Enigma. Lorgen will not be able to meet us at Mars.”
Kendrick looked at Nozaki, Yoshida, Tanaka and Mun, and said, “So, do you trust her now?”
“Hai,” said Nozaki with admiration.
“All right,” said Kendrick as he keyed up the com. “Heather, sound the deck. Let me know the state of the ship. Royce out.”
“Yes, Sir,” she replied.
Kendrick then went over to Selena and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks! You’re the best.”
“Captain, I recovered three of the men who intended to board us,” Selena announced. “I left them with Doctor Kinsale in the Med-Bay. You should look at them. I believe you’ll find them enlightening.”
Mister Kowalski and his team put the final patch in place, sealing the inner breach. “The hull breach is sealed off, Sir,” said Enigma’s chief engineer. “We can go after them on your command.”
“Thank you,” replied Lorgen. “Mister Myers, follow Royce! Full speed ahead, you got it?”
“Yes, Sir!”
As soon as the cutter’s engines fired, another explosion rocked the ship.
“Sir, we’ve lost the port side engine!” Myers exclaimed.
“Damn! She must have placed a mine on it before going back over!” Lorgen shook his head. “We’ve still got one engine,” he said. “Take us to Mars. Maintain half-power.”
Lorgen was livid. Now, there was no way for him to catch up to Royce or to head him off. Tracht was going to be furious, but Lorgen did not care; more of the marines in his charge were killed while trying to board the Selene. Lorgen knew what that woman was. How the hell did Royce get his hands on one?
“Sir,” said Mister Levin, “Incoming message from Colonel Tracht.”
“Fuck that sorry ass!” Lorgen spat. “No way I’m taking that bitch alive! No way in Hell! And Royce? I’ll send him to Hell myself! Him, that damnable ship of his and that android bitch!”
“Android?” Myers turned and looked at Lorgen with some puzzlement.
“A G.A.I.S.F. unit,” Lorgen declared. “It’s an assassination and infiltration android. Somehow, Royce got his hands on one.”
“Sir, Colonel Tracht is demanding that you respond,” Mister Levin reiterated.
“I’ll take it in my cabin.”
Lorgen stormed out of the bridge and returned to his cabin, knowing that he was about to be reprimanded again by the colonel. As he entered the cabin, he saw his console beeping, alerting him to the colonel’s message. Sitting at his desk, he answered it. “Lorgen here.”
“You missed your last check in,” Tracht scolded. “I assume that you disregarded my previous directive and went hunting for Royce.”
“Yes, Sir,” replied Lorgen. “But Sir, there is a new development. He has a G.A.I.S.F. unit. Saw it myself. Thing took out an entire squad of marines. Sending you the report now.”
“Interesting,” said Tracht. “Given your present location, I suspect I know where he found her. You can thank an idiot rear admiral for this particular blunder. Return to base, as I previously ordered. I’ll deal with things from this end. Oh, and Lorgen … if you should somehow encounter Royce again, make sure you do not kill him or Keane. They’re useless to me dead, though the same cannot be said of you if you fuck this up.”
“Sir, we should cut our losses with them,” Lorgen protested. “They’re nothing but trouble.”
“Don’t let your mouth … or your pissy-temperament … write checks your ass can’t cash, Lorgen,” scolded Tracht. Nobody used checks any longer, but the phrase had remained in the vernacular. “Royce has bested you twice now and based on this report, you got the Enigma torn up in the process. You lose that ship and I’ll see you hang! Don’t try my patience, Lorgen. I’m not some pencil pusher administrator. Tracht out.”
Lorgen sat, fuming. “I will not take Royce alive, you bastard. Come and get me if you think you can,” he said aloud to the blank screen.
The Selene and her crew were now on course for Mars after their encounter with the Enigma. It was unlikely that Lorgen would pursue at this point, but they all knew that the UPA was still lurking out there. Most were more concerned about what would happen after they got to Mars than what would happen on the way, though their second encounter with Lorgen had not been at all expected. Nor was it without cost. Heather had sounded the deck and her report, while not as bad as it could have been, was hardly cause for cheer.
“Sir,” said Heather, “Selene’s outer hull had a good number of damaged plates from the mines. The maser fire has also severely damaged the aft starboard engine’s nacelle. Thankfully, the engine itself seems unharmed, but we’re leaking fuel. Also, the power couplings to the aft outboard engines are both fried and the center coupling is showing signs of stress.”
“Great,” said Kendrick sarcastically. “One more close encounter and we’re screwed.”
“Aye, Sir. So long as we maintain our course and don’t initiate another burn, we’ll make it without a problem. But …”
“But, if we get to Mars and have to turn right around because they’re waiting for us, we’re screwed.”
“Aye,” Heather said bleakly.
“All right, cut fuel to the starboard engine. Do what you can with the center power coupling and I’ll see if I can think of anything from up here.”
“Aye, Sir,” replied Heather with a salute.
Kendrick, Selena, and Doctors Kinsale and Yori, gathered in the Med-Bay, examining the three specimens that Selena had recovered from the Enigma. All of them were deeply troubled with the implications of the three clone soldiers. It reminded Kendrick of an old science fiction movie about a vast galactic republic that had gone to war because of a clone army.
“Fiona, if I doubted your
intentions or methods prior to you joining my crew, I take it back,” Kendrick declared. “After seein’ what they did with Selene and now this? I understand why you did what you did.”
“That’s very kind of you, Kendrick,” Fiona said, “but this is … much bigger than my personal feelings. This is … monstrous!”
“It is reasonable to assume that these men are programmed for absolute loyalty and imprinted with the knowledge and skills needed to carry out their intended missions,” Selena stated flatly. “You’ll notice the flap behind the right ear; this allows the military to directly program these people.”
“My God … this is … unbelievable,” Hayashi said, barely above a whisper. “How do they … install that into the human brain?”
“They do not,” Selena explained. “They grow the clones with the hardware already in place. The process is highly sophisticated and like so many other aspects of the program, this required the use of Doctor Kinsale’s formula. The soldiers are part of a special army, regimented and deployed as needed. While aboard the Enigma, I managed to locate a terminal point and hacked into their systems. I have further data on the program, as well as on that of the G.A.I.S.F. program that created me. Sending you the files now, Captain Royce.”
“Thanks,” he said.
“So, the U.S. government is utilizing vat grown soldiers to use in high risk missions or as shock troops,” mused Hayashi. “And your … work was a part of this?” She looked at Fiona disapprovingly.
“Before Fiona answers,” said Kendrick, “I need you to give me your word that this information does not leave this room.”
“Hai,” Doctor Yori replied.
“Good enough for me. Fi, give her the Reader’s Digest version please.”
“Very well,” Fiona said hesitantly. “While I am a medical doctor, I later became a geneticist. It was my goal to create a way for infertile couples to have children of their own without reliance on surrogate mothers, or egg and sperm donors. I worked for NessCorp and cloning was … big at the time. I hoped to see it used for something good, positive. There were issues with the cloning process and while I won’t bore you with the details, my work was the basis of their later developments.
“The big breakthrough was the development of blank embryos that could be encoded with the genetic template of anyone, or of any couple. The short story is that when I learned how my work was being misused and even sold to the military, I took my formula, burned my notes and erased my computer, depriving them of the formula to make more blanks than what they already had.”
“Which is why they are after you,” the Japanese woman said.
“Yes.”
“For what it’s worth,” replied Hayashi, “I think you did the right thing. This … this is abominable!”
“More than you know, Hayashi. More than you know.” Fiona shuddered at the thought.
“All right,” said Kendrick, “Selena, you and I will load these three into cryo-stasis tubes. We’ll keep ’em on ice till I figure out what to do with them. Half-tempted to turn these clowns over to the Alliance just to spite Lorgen.” Then, he looked at the assembled crew. “Remember; what was said in this room stays in this room. No exceptions.”
When evening came, Kendrick finally pulled himself away from the bridge to wind down and get some sleep. He still perceived his days in terms of morning, noon and night, even though the only thing that marked the change from day to night was the cycling of the lights on board Selene. Kendrick had set the lights up to dim the ship substantially after eight in the evening. Even the bridge lighting was subdued after eight. After ten, the entire ship went dark excepting the bridge. Individual cabins could be controlled independently, but otherwise, the cycling from night to day was ship-wide.
Kendrick sat in his quarters with Selene’s new gynoid avatar. He took very few breaks from the cockpit, as he was accustomed to spending the bulk of his time there, but with a crew sharing the space, he made sure to get some time with Selena in private. Selena; Kendrick had taken to calling the gynoid ‘Selena’ and treating her as though she were the daughter he had never had. Intellectually, he knew that this was not true, but in her presence, Kendrick could not help doing so.
“The crew seems more … trusting of my motivations, but at the same time, more fearful of me,” lamented Selene. “I am sorry if this has caused any consternation for you.”
“Ah, they’ll get over it,” laughed Kendrick. “We’ve got less than eighty days till we get to Mars and then most of them are outta here anyway.”
“I know, but I am trying to … fit in better with them. I am self-aware and have genuine consciousness, but I am still a machine. I may look like one of them, but I am not one of them. They know this and it scares them. While I am sorry about the negative effects of my display in repelling the Enigma, I had no other choice.”
“I know you didn’t,” Kendrick agreed. “But, even if you did, you were still right to take the actions you did.”
“I know, but those actions still have consequences,” she lamented.
“Selena, you are what you are. You shouldn’t have to hide that in your own home—or in defense of yourself, your friends, or the ship, any more than I should have to hide my humanity from you. We are human. We are what we are. You are synthetic life. You are what you are; and it’s beautiful.”
“Captain, does it bother you that I was built in the image of your late wife?”
He thought for a moment before responding. “No. It bothers me that they were building gynoids in her image without our permission, but not that you are one of them. You are unique. As for any others, I simply have to accept that they’ve done what they’ve done. You know, defense contractors and mega corps taint and poison everything they touch, her image included. After finding out about the G.A.I.S.F. program and finding those cloned soldiers, I understand Fiona’s reasons for joining the G.L.F. a lot more clearly now. Really hits home when they do it to your wife after she dies and the clones are tryin’ to board—but, I can’t let that get to me.”
“Thank you for understanding, Captain.”
He leaned forward and touched her cheek. This brought a smile to her face. “You … you’re a miracle. You’re unique. I know that you are not literally her child, but being the ship, you are in spirit. And you’re everything she’d have wanted in a daughter.”
Selene sat for a moment processing his words.
As she sat, he suddenly realized what it was that was off about her. “I know I’m totally runnin’ down a rabbit trail, but I think it might help if you’d blink your eyes once in a while. Non-blinking eyes are something people might not notice consciously, but their subconscious picks up on it and it unsettles them.”
“Why?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Because you look like a human and humans blink kinda regularly.”
The gynoid blinked her eyes several times in succession. “I will endeavor to do so,” she said. “Thank you for pointing this out.” Selene paused again and blinked a few more times, changing the frequency until he gave her a thumbs up.
“Yeah, that looks more natural,” he confirmed.
Selene then looked at him intently without blinking, finally speaking. “Captain, you are very kind to me. Given what you just said, should I not call you … father?”
“Only if you’re comfortable. Otherwise, captain’s just fine.”
Lorgen went to the barracks to take stock of what remained of his marines. Myers refused to call them marines, but what did he know? These men were ready to fight, bleed and die for their country, and probably were more patriotic than Myers ever thought about being. Lorgen would see to it that justice was done for their fallen comrades.
“Captain on deck!”
The men stopped what they were doing when their squad leader announced Lorgen’s presence, and saluted the captain.
Lorgen saluted them in return, saying, “At ease, men.”
They shifted from attention to at ease in perfe
ct unison. It was one of the most beautiful things Lorgen had ever seen. He wished his entire crew were like these men, save a few who he held in particularly high esteem. Levin, Stiles, and Kowalski, he thought; they’re the kind of officers every captain should have. Lorgen barely noticed that each of these troopers looked exactly alike. To him, soldiers should be indistinguishable from one another. Moreover, soldiers should be men. It was not proper, in Lorgen’s opinion, that a woman should ever wear the uniform. Women were soft, emotional and nurturing. Men were the only gender fit for soldiering. Females and transgenders, who Lorgen considered subhuman, were meant to stay at home and support the troops.
Lorgen would have ensured that his crew was all male, but he did not have to; he had a reputation in the Navy and virtually no woman would consent to serve under him. Tracht never forced the issue; he simply gave Lorgen what he wanted and allowed female soldiers to shine under captains with more liberal attitudes. Which suited the misogynistic captain just fine.
“Men, your brothers have fought, bled and died in service to our fine nation,” Lorgen began. “Royce and his sex-bot have spilled our blood, damaged our ship and dishonored us! I came down here to personally thank you, all of you, for your service, and to mourn the passing of our brothers in arms. I assure you, we will catch that accursed ship! We will force Royce to watch the destruction of both his ship and his sex-bot, and that damnable doctor will be yours to do with as you please until we return to port and turn her over to the military.”
“Yes, Sir!” The men all shouted in unison, approving of Lorgen’s speech.
“As you were,” Lorgen said, saluting them before exiting. Making grandiose speeches to men eager for vengeance was the easy part. Now, he had to make good on that promise and that meant formulating a plan.
13
The day after Lorgen had nearly done them in, the Selene was sailing smoothly and Kendrick sat in his chair on the bridge with a hot cup of coffee, preparing to start his day on the ship. The captain had yet to take time and read the file Selena had sent him, unsure that he really wanted to know the full extent of the military cloning and android programs. Before having a ship full of people, Kendrick simply would have read the file at his leisure. Since taking on the Fujin crew and the gynoid, he found that having people actually meant more responsibility, not less, and his free time seemed to have evaporated.
The Silver Liner: Takes Flight! Page 17