Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11

by Randolph Lalonde

  “So, you’re going to have to kill it from a distance. Those bots can’t do it,” Alice said.

  “I’ll have a remote controlled ‘bot poison it,” Ayan said. “It’s murder, plain and simple, but I think you and Oz are right. It’ll find a way to get a message out if it doesn’t find freedom for itself.”

  Alice thought it was time for a change in topic. “How’s little Laura doing?”

  “She’s at the Medical Centre under observation. She was just treated for a disposition to cancer, and placement services is taking care of her while they examine my suitability to adopt her. I’ll be going there after if you want to come along.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it,” Alice said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Can I call on you if they need more people to interview?”

  “Anytime. I don’t think I’ll be taking my squad out any time soon.”

  “That’s something I have to tell you,” Ayan said. “I was hoping to do it while we were looking at the work I had done on the Clever Dream. Lewis should hear this too.”

  “It’s downstairs?” Alice asked.

  “Delivered an hour ago.”

  “Then let’s go see. You can give me all the bad news while I look the ship over.” Theodore looked at them with a cocked head. “C’mon,” Alice said.

  “I’ve been looking forward to meeting Lewis properly,” Theo said excitedly. “The text messages he sent me this morning were epic length.”

  “You two have been talking a lot?” Ayan asked.

  “Yes, but mostly about Alice. He was highly invested in making sure I take good care of her while she’s off ship.”

  “You really don’t have to, Theo,” Alice said.

  “I find it fulfilling. Besides, I learn something from you whenever we spend time together.”

  Forty-Three

  The Nova Concord’s Crew

  * * *

  Tactical scan didn’t show any movement near the Nova Concord’s hold, but the temperature inside was minus thirty-three. Remmy had a suspicion about what they’d find, but he kept it to himself. Dimitri, Mason and Sammi, three rangers he knew well enough and liked him as a leader ran scans as they moved in front of him.

  “There are bots shut down back here,” Mason said, his gravelly announcer-like voice in his ear. He sounded like an ancient movie trailer, the first thing Remmy liked about him. He was quick to laugh too, something he found out when he showed Mason a few of those old trailers featuring a voice almost exactly the same as his. “Their batteries are drained, no sign of power.”

  “Keep checking everything that comes up, and make sure they don’t have a reserve or a connection to the ship,” Remmy said. He recalled the tricks he faced during the retaking of the Sunspire. The Nova Concord wasn’t nearly as sophisticated, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. “Watch for anything that could surprise us,” Remmy said.

  “Is something really a surprise if we’re expecting to be surprised?” Sammi asked. Her name was misguiding. She was close friends with Dotty, and they not only worked out together, but had a shared vacation scheduled. All beach time. Remmy wished he could join them but didn’t expect he’d have time. It would be a good thing for Dotty to get some rest after everything she’d been through.

  “We’re just keeping our eyes open,” Dimitri said. He was a classic action movie military hero including squinting eyes, a scar on his chin and a short mohawk. Mirth left him completely the moment he had a military purpose, and he had a mind for details that rivaled Remmy’s easily. Off duty, he was a little too ready to fight, but he didn’t get into trouble when there was a superior officer in sight. “I’m picking up heavy robots past the main cargo door.”

  They came up on Remmy’s tactical display. “I see them,” he said. “Can’t get a read through the chassis, it could be the door. It’s about a meter thick.”

  “Are we opening this can of worms? I see eleven heavy ‘bots with tools,” Sammi asked.

  “Someone has to clear it,” Remmy said. “We’re here, they’re here, we may as well say hello.”

  “You think these are waiting for someone to come in?” Mason asked.

  “I expect they’re in standby mode, waiting for their motion sensors to find something,” Remmy said. “If I’m wrong, then we stay bored and safe. If I’m right, well, no more boredom. Open it.”

  He watched as Sammi moved to the controls for the three metre tall, broad double doors. The only robot they had to blast to pieces so far was a heavy repair bot with a broken wireless pack. What irked Remmy was that it looked like it burned its wireless pack using its own welder. It only had a basic artificial intelligence, but it was fully infected, so the will to kill was definitely present. “We’ve been here before, guys and gals. Any bot moves, we dismantle the goddamned thing before it can do the same to us.”

  “Dismantle them the quick way,” Mason agreed.

  All four of them lined up along the width of the door as it split, rolling open to either side. A cold fog filled the hall and the systems in Remmy’s helmet compensated. “Forward, slow,” he said. All their rifles were raised. Their scanners swept the room.

  “Those evil bastards,” Dimitri said. Remmy saw the same thing. The robots aboard the Nova Concord piled the crew’s bodies neatly on top of each other. There were rows several corpses high and at least five deep.

  “Looks like three hundred fifty five bodies,” Sammi said. “They were frozen before they piled, some of them were still alive.”

  “Stop scanning the bodies,” Remmy said, it was almost a snap. “Nothing in that pile will kill us, but keep your suits sealed just in case.”

  “Aye, sorry, Sir,” Sammi replied.

  “These bots are in sleep mode,” Mason said. “Holy crap, you were right.” The heavy service robot he was focusing his scanner on moved quickly. Its treads pushing it towards him, two heavy arms grasping his leg and his head. Mason tried to get a shot off on it and skipped a round off the heavy top plate covering the main body. The rest of the bots powered on at the same time.

  Remmy took aim at the thing’s upper arm joint and fired, but he wasn’t quick enough. The shot landed after it tossed Mason high in the air. He collided with the ceiling before falling into the tall stack of corpses. “I’m okay!” he shouted. “I’m…” then he started screaming in fear. “Get me out of here! They’re everywhere! Oh my God! Help!”

  Sammi helped Remmy blast the bot that threw Mason into the pile of corpses to shreds of metal. “Calm down! They’re just frozen bodies!” she shouted back.

  Sammi and Remmy turned so they were back to back, raking the nearest bots with explosive electromagnetic pulse rounds made to kill Order Knights. They worked even better on these old robots, shredding arms, tracks, and most importantly the plating that was made to protect their innermost components from impacts. “Dimitri! Behind you!” Sammi called out.

  She turned, focusing her fire on a robot to her right. Remmy split off from her and looked to Dimitri in time to see a heavy loader grab him by the helmet with one gripper and smash him over the top with another as it tried to bash and crush his armour open at the same time. He didn’t have a clean shot, and Dimitri was panicking. The other robot near him, the one he was focusing on when he was grabbed, was closing as well. It’s armour was already half blasted open.

  “I’ve got you, hold on, D,” Remmy said as he rushed left, opening fire on the half-burned down robot. He ran towards the bodies, where Mason was still screaming, flailing in frozen corpses. From there he got a clear shot on the bot who was savagely trying to crack Dimitri’s helm open. He had his sidearm out and was firing round after round after the bot’s forward plating. Remmy took aim and blasted the bot from the side, taking the shoulder apart then splitting its armour. It powered down, one arm still holding Dimitri off the ground by the helmet.

  “Clear!” Sammi said. “All bots are down.”

  “Oh, God, they’re everywhere,” Mason wept. At l
east he wasn’t screaming anymore.

  “Well, shit,” Dimitri said, pulling at the claw grasping his helm by the sides. It was locked heavy metal and he had no luck. “This is just embarrassing.”

  “I’ve got ya, man,” Remmy said with a chuckle.

  “I’ll get him,” Sammi said.

  “No, you’ll start digging your way to Mason before he loses his last marble,” Remmy corrected. “We’ll help you in a second. Don’t forget to scan for surprises.”

  Forty-Four

  Regret and Promise

  * * *

  “The modifications inside are extensive, the Clever Dream is several generations ahead of its original design now,” Ayan said as they walked down the ramp leading to the hangar.

  Alice was still working through what was going on in her own mind, and every time she caught her own reflection in a segment of the wall or on a new panel cover, it was a little surprising. The face was starting to look right, it was quick, but it also looked younger. It felt like there was more of the old Alice, the one that lived on the run for years, was raised by Bernice before that, than the new one, but it was undeniable that she was not purely one or the other.

  Everything felt new, not just her appearance. There was always a chance of clone shock with the integration of a new personality or whenever memories were reloaded, but she didn’t feel any of the signs that indicated an impending rejection. Instead, she was more eager than ever to see what was around the next corner, giddy to live the next moment, no matter what came. There was also a feeling that she’d come home and everything looked slightly different.

  Alice was struck by her own expression, unsure and afraid, and she stopped to look at her reflection in a black wall panel that was polished to a shine. Theodore stopped and looked with her. “Are you all right?” he asked quietly. Ayan stopped her descent down the stairs.

  “It’s like my heart hurts,” Alice said to herself as much as to answer Theodore. Ayan was at her side the next minute, arm around her waist.

  “I’m not detecting any cardiovascular difficulties,” Theodore said.

  “I don’t think that’s what she means,” Ayan said. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  “I…” she started but lost the words in a blur of powerful regret. “I left him alone,” she said. “Lewis was just out there, risking everything because I didn’t think I needed him. I treated him like an appliance.”

  “He wanted to be a part of the fight,” Ayan said. “He did great things.”

  The tears started then. “He should have been here,” Alice said, patting her wrist. “I remember what it felt like, I don’t know how the Geist put those memories back, but I remember what it was like when Jonas sent me alone into the Overlord Two. I could barely understand that I wouldn’t be with him.” Alice broke down, sobbing. It seemed to take control of her whole torso, and she leaned on Ayan, who held her and stroked her back. “I was alone, I didn’t understand alone.”

  For an instant she could feel the emotions of an artificial being, it was like trying to catch a wisp of smoke. As soon as she noticed it, it was gone. Alice knew what it was though. “Then I was so angry, I wanted to kill everyone on the Overlord. I had a job to do; get Jonas and his crew out, then I’d use the Phoenix program to get out, but not before trashing everything I could. I failed that too, the Overlord Two still exists. It’s still in their main fleet.”

  Alice calmed down enough to take a deep breath. “How do you know?”

  “I remember,” Alice said. “It’s where they brought be back.” Her reflection showed so much vulnerability, a depth of emotional pain that she could have never imagined. “I can’t believe I didn’t learn from that, I didn’t stay close to Lewis, to everyone I cared about.”

  “You were busy trying to find out who you are,” Ayan said. “Becoming someone amazing. Everyone knew, everyone wanted you to succeed.”

  “Someone should have noticed that the rest of me was still here,” Alice said. “Not you, you’re not a neurologist, but someone. Maybe me.”

  “You built a track for yourself, worked hard to become impressive. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “Now I’m tearing that down too.” The tears had passed, and she wiped them up with a kerchief Ayan handed her. “I need to be a part of Fleet. I’m close to where I fit, I like the idea of a small team, but I can’t deal with a paper soldier being in command.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” Ayan said. “You know people.”

  The sadness in that reflection cleared, and she smiled at Ayan, who looked so similar. It was almost the same chin, blue eyes, and strong cheekbones. She looked to Theodore and chuckled. His proper, handsome gentleman guise was frozen in an expression of mild surprise. “You okay, Theo?”

  “Every minute has been an experience that’s only brought more questions today,” he said. “But I’m fine, thank you. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I need to see what the Clever Dream looks like. Thank you,” she said to Ayan. “You’re a good mother.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “There are a lot of things I don’t know, but identity crises I know. I’ve done the homework.”

  Ayan led them the rest of the way down the ramp way and Alice couldn’t help but reflect on the one she knew on the First Light so long ago. There were noticeable differences too. Her shape, the way she spoke - more calmly, as though she had more time - and there really was something maternal about her, whereas the first Ayan didn’t show that side of herself often if at all. Alice wondered if it would be the same with her father when she met him.

  Jake hadn’t just changed once, like Ayan did. The man Alice knew as her father was Jonas. He was gone entirely. Jake looked and acted like him for some time, and now he was transformed; his human body was taller, more powerful looking, but it still had Jacob Valent’s face, even his voice. She realized that Jake hadn’t met her since she changed either, her framework system was removed shortly after he left, transforming her one more time. It could be an odd reunion.

  As they came to the hangar doors - double sliders that were thicker and opaque for security purposes - an entirely new instinct surfaced in her. “We honoured the ship you had.” Ayan said, turning towards Alice.

  Alice looked at her, taking in the softness of her features, her light blue eyes, and heart shaped face. The new instinct, or ability, or whatever it was - she’d classify it later - led her to do something that she sometimes couldn’t accomplish without tears or at least a rant or two before. She accepted the change she saw in front of her, regardless of how drastic it was. Without warning, Alice embraced Ayan, who was a little startled at first. “Oh, okay,” she said, returning the gesture.

  “I remember where you came from, who you were before,” Alice said into Ayan’s red curls. “I’m happy you’re here, that they made you again.”

  “I…” Ayan started, but instead of finishing her thought, she only squeezed. Alice released her long moments later. “I don’t know what to say,” Ayan told her. “Thank you.”

  “Is everything all right?” Theo asked in a whisper.

  Ayan looked to him, then to Alice and nodded. “I think so.” The trio stood silently for a moment, then Ayan shook her head and smiled. “Let’s take a look at your ship.”

  The doors parted and Alice nearly fell to her knees. It was the Clever Dream. Not the one modified for Haven Fleet, nor the damaged hulk that she’d seen days before, but exactly as it was when she was the captain. “Oh, my God,” Alice said, her hands covering her mouth.

  “We were able to cover it with the plating that looks and scans exactly the same as the original hull, but it’s the same smart technology that’s on our new ships. It’ll trick any scanners into thinking it’s a normal Arcyn Starskipper, though that’s not what I’d call a normal ship to start with,” Ayan said.

  Alice stared, looking at the sleek shape, the glossy black hull. It was like looking directly into her past and she remembered how lucky
she felt to have her ship, to have Lewis. That intoxicating feeling only grew as she realized that Ayan was the one who made it happen. Her luck had only gotten better.

  “She’s not saying anything,” Theodore said to Ayan. It was as much a statement as a question that made her realize that she had been staring for a long time.

  “It’s amazing,” Alice said. “Thank you.”

  “What we did to the inside is amazing,” Ayan said. “The outside was the easy part.”

  They walked towards the main boarding ramp on the port side and Alice smiled broadly as a familiar voice filled the air. “Hello, Alice. It looks like we both had a few new things installed.”

  “Lewis, I missed you so much,” Alice said, touching the inside wall of the walkway as though she was acknowledging him. “I’m sorry I left you.”

  “I don’t blame you. You can’t take a ship everywhere.”

  Alice couldn’t help thinking that she could have if she gave him an open line on her comm unit or installed his module there. She decided to leave that for the time being. “How do you feel?”

  “Powerful,” Lewis said. “A little relieved to be in my own skin instead of on a ship far from you.”

  “I don’t think we’ll be in command of any corvettes anytime soon, so you won’t have to worry about that.” The interior hall was widened just enough to accommodate two people passing each other comfortably, and she could see that the corridor was changed even more up ahead.

  “What happened?” Lewis asked.

  Alice looked to Ayan. “Now’s a good time for the bad news.”

  Ayan nodded and braced herself. “Commander Terran put Lieutenant Vernor in charge of the unit, giving him command of the new ship you were supposed to take your place on temporarily. They set out on the mission as planned. Your squad went with them as well. Theodore’s file work wasn’t finished yet, so he decided to delay his entry into Haven Fleet.”

  “I wanted to make sure you would be all right,” Theodore added. “By the way; hello, Lewis, it is good to be inside you at last.”