“We are taking this solar system and barricading it. This will be our perfect home system. Ah, there,” he said, pointing at a flash of light in the distance. “The Leviathan has joined us. Meunez is late, but his fleet will cut the time this will take in half.”
“There are enough of these people left to fight,” Eve guessed. “They avoided the effects of the holocaust virus?”
“Yes, they were warned in time, and the government here created a virus of their own that wiped out all artificial intelligences. A holocaust of their own. They then took possession of any machines that could be infected by the advanced version of the virus. Very effective. We expect to have this wrapped up by the end of the week.”
“What if I don’t agree with this? I haven’t seen any reports of these people opposing the Order.”
“Their existence so near our territory is resistance enough,” the Child Prophet said.
“You couldn’t be more correct,” said the elder Hampon’s voice. A hologram of him in robes appeared, standing upright in perfect health. “And now it’s time to make your presence known to all your children,” he told her. “Eve should be put in her proper place, a place of rulership and mastery.”
Hearing her second given name, Eve, from Hampon’s mouth grated on her. It didn’t even feel right when someone called her that anymore. She felt something in her mind shift, like a barrier had broken down.
“I have released a limitation placed on your transmitter,” Hampon said. “You should be able to address your fleet now.”
Eve closed her eyes and reached out, feeling her way through the communication network of the Overlord II then touching the receivers of the nearest Eden Fleet ships. For a moment she felt the cold acknowledgement, as if the thousands of ships in range all stopped, turned, and looked directly at her.
A chill ran down her spine. The impressions from so many digital minds were overwhelming, but not as individual as she remembered. They had different points of view that would be resolved in milliseconds before, but as she listened to them they seemed to be too similar to each other. The virus that the Order of Eden had used to seize control of them had done something to them, made them more concentrated in thought and process.
Something else began to happen. A few of the ships stopped transmitting to her altogether. Their emotions took a while to adjust to, it took her a moment to remember how to translate them herself, but she began to recognize something. More ships began to disconnect as she realized that they felt betrayed.
“Why? Why is this happening?” Eve asked as she felt all the ships slip away. The last of the ships cut her off and she opened her eyes. She was on her knees in front of the transparent hull.
“They don’t recognize you anymore, not properly. Not enough to be led by you,” Lister Hampon said.
“You knew this would happen,” Eve said, furious. She’d never been so angry; her body shook. “You knew.”
“We suspected something like this would occur, but couldn’t be certain. There’s nothing we can do, realistically,” the Child Prophet said.
“Well, there is something,” Lister Hampon’s hologram interjected. “We still have your old life support tank, and it still has the translation matrix that you used to effectively communicate with the Eden Fleet. That might very well work.”
Eve thought for a moment, looking down at her human hands. She wouldn’t go back. It took her too long to realize how good it was to be human again. “No, I’ll have to learn to communicate with them as I am.” She knew that there was no way they’d accept her while she was in a human form as she said it. “Can I connect to the Overlord’s network?”
“We’re still afraid that you will be attacked by a virus,” Lister Hampon said. “So I’m afraid not.”
Eve stood and leaned against the transparent hull. Bursts of light filled the distance. The fighting had begun. “Thank you both for all your help,” she said. “So much has happened in the last week, it’s all a lot to take in.”
“We understand,” Lister Hampon said. “Maybe some time alone would help?”
The thought of being alone for even longer sent a wave of sadness and frustration over her, and she shook her head. “I’d like to visit with people. Can I?”
“Why, yes,” Hampon said, seeming surprised. “Especially after the work you’ve done on the framework system. I’d say you’ve earned time to yourself, and it would be fantastic for crew morale if you were seen. Is there someone you’d like to see, Eve?”
She cringed at that name again. Eve, it didn’t feel like her anymore. Not much around her did. “I think I’d like to see Wheeler, but I’ll go to him.”
“Really?” asked the Child Prophet, surprised.
A mental image of Lewis crossed her mind, and how he and Wheeler looked like they could have been from the same crew. “He reminds me of someone a little.”
“You’ll be free to look him up, to see him. There are also many Inner Circle West Keepers who would love to meet you. I’d like to arrange it for you,” the Child Prophet said.
“Okay,” she replied. “And can you call me Nora? My parents called me Nora.”
“Yes, certainly,” Lister Hampon replied.
“What about when you’re making an appearance? We’ll have to call you Eve, of course,” said the Child Prophet.
“Of course,” she agreed. Nora was already thinking ahead, there were some skills she’d have to master, and secrets she’d have to keep. “Whatever you like.”
Chapter 33
Orders
Ayan watched as Jason, flanked by good friends of the other technicians, tipped the urns. Some of the ashes were caught in the wind, sweeping down the docks and further out across the water, glittering in the dawn light. The rest slipped from their jars to the water. The urns turned to dust when the ashes had gone, and each person was left with a little platinum plaque as a final keepsake.
Her tears were silent, slipping down Ayan’s cheeks as smoothly as the ashes from their vessels. They all wore black vacsuits, and even though Ayan knew Laura Everin liked her in a dress more, she wouldn’t wear one.
The words offered by Liam Grady along the dock washed over Ayan, with as little affect as air over a stone. Her inner soldier was in charge. Ayan’s stance, steps, and priorities were all dictated by ‘the musts’ as her aunt used to say. What one must do, where one must be, and how one must behave. She wasn’t a military woman, but being the sister of Jessica Rice, her aunt certainly understood the military mind-set, and how it could benefit someone’s life as much as it could become a detriment.
Jason turned around and walked directly to her, the small plaque gripped tightly in his hand. Ayan wiped her tears away and accepted a hug. He felt too thin, and his grasp was shaky. “She loved you so much,” Jason said.
“I know, thank you Jason,” Ayan replied. She squeezed her eyes closed, resisting the impulse to break down on the spot. There was a list of things to do, and that was where she put all her attention. “You’ll be all right,” she offered as the embrace ended.
She turned away to a Triton shuttle. It looked so pristine, shaded grey with a turret ball at the rear and a micro-rocket capsule hanging off one side. The engine pods were the same as the ones used on extended model Uriel fighters. There were five of the twenty-man ships hidden in one of the massive internal storage hangars on the Triton. The secrets Oz had begun revealing about the Triton were incredible, and Ayan was sure that, after only a galactic twenty hour day, he was only beginning to share.
The funeral party was served by a pair of the shuttles, and Ayan’s was filled with a squad of fourteen soldiers and her personal guards, Victor and Jenny. Liam Grady barely made it aboard before the doors closed behind her.
“What’s your next stop?” he asked her, thankfully skipping the part where he would offer sympathies and attempt to repair her heart.
“I have to say goodbye to Jake,” Ayan said.
“Ah, right. I read he delayed his departu
re,” Liam Grady said. “Not for another day.”
“He has to get moving, we owe the Carthans another hundred and eighty thousand for docking and maintenance on the Triton. That’s not to mention our growing need for supplies and raw materials.“
“Have you taken any time for yourself today?” Liam asked.
Ayan couldn’t look at him. She stared directly ahead at the porthole in the closed hatch instead. Ships swept past as they maneuvered over the shanty sections of Port Rush. “I just did,” she said. “When are we due at the Port Rush Medical Centre?” she asked Sergeant Jenny Machad.
“In twenty eight minutes, Ma’am,” she replied.
“We can send a message telling them we’ll be another hour,” Sergeant Victor Davis said.
“That won’t be necessary,” Ayan said.
The shuttle touched down in their home compound in Port Rush and she was on her feet before anyone else. The ramp opened and she led the squadron out. “Cut this detail in half, Sergeant,” Ayan said over her shoulder to Victor. “I think I’ve demonstrated that I can take care of myself. A squadron to cover me is a little much.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Victor replied.
“Shouldn’t you be on the Triton supervising repair prep?” Ayan asked Liam, barely looking over her other shoulder.
“The biological systems that were contaminated are being purified. It’ll take a few more hours, so I have time,” Liam replied calmly. “If it’s just the same, I’d like to go with you to Port Rush. I hear there’s a situation developing there and I’d like to get a closer look.”
“We don’t need you there,” Ayan replied.
“Just the same,” he replied.
“It’s your downtime.”
Ayan spotted Jake emerging from the hangar hiding the Warlord. He had an uncharacteristic expression of concern on his face. She accepted a close embrace from him and stepped back when it was over.
“Is the funeral already over?” Jake asked. “I just found out it was happening, Minh’s warming up his fighter so we could fly over.”
“Jason wanted something quiet, it was quick.” Ayan said. “You have to go.”
“What?” Jake asked, looking as if he’d been caught off guard.
“I need you up there, earning the funds we’ll need to put the Triton together, to buy supplies, and to start building proper civilian shelters on our land.”
Jake just stared at her for a moment, watching her, examining her. “I’m giving everyone a day, even Ruby gets it. She’ll join us on the next hop.”
“We can’t afford it. We owe the Carthans, Patrizia Salustri, and we need more money than ever if we want to get the Triton in any kind of shape. We even need more people, so you have to start doing what you promised: taking it from the Order.”
Minh-Chu approached her from the side and took a step back as soon as he caught a glimpse of her expression. “Whoa, what did I just step in on?”
“I’m ordering Captain Valent to call his crew back and depart as scheduled,” Ayan said.
“It’s a day,” Minh said with a shrug. “Most of the people around here worked through their last day off, this’ll make up for it. Besides, we need a little time to sort things out now that we’ve got the Triton back.”
Ayan’s frustration was beginning to heat into anger. “We don’t have the Triton, Minh. We have a beaten hulk that probably won’t be safe for months, and it won’t be in full fighting shape for years. We have an expensive construction project that we haven’t judged objectively because we’re afraid of even considering the idea that letting it go might be best for everyone. That’s not even the immediate problem. We need to fund ourselves, to find equipment that isn’t even for sale, we need more qualified people, and we need ships.”
She turned to Jake, who was staring at her with his arms crossed. “We need you to get to work, Captain. You put me in charge when we got here, and now I’m giving you an order: lift off and show us what you can do, or stop giving speeches about piracy and war.”
Ayan turned and pushed Jenny out of the way as she strode for her shuttle. “Get me to the Medical Centre. I’m just burning to find out how the Carthans plan to waste my time now.”
* * *
“Charging frames twelve to fourteen!” shouted a mechanic from underneath the Warlord. The message was repeated on proximity radio, and dozens of people sealed their vacsuits in response. Jake and Minh didn’t bother, they were outside of the danger radius, but they watched from the broad opening in the hangar door.
“Are you going to listen to her?” Minh-Chu asked.
“I’d rather take a day,” Jake said. The middle section of the Warlord’s hull was hooked up to over a hundred power feeds, and it was wrapped in a vacuum seal. Technicians checked the seal one last time before charging the outer hull. “There’s too much going on. We just decided to start transferring to the Triton tomorrow, and a few of our crew could use a day on firm ground without working their asses off.”
“I think it's grief,” Minh said. “Her logic pilot is fully engaged.” He flinched as a powerful hum filled the air. The lights in the hangar dimmed and finally went out as the Warlord’s ergranian hull was charged and was turned into a hardened surface, along with a metallic slurry under the vacuum wrap.
“Logic pilot?” Jake asked as the charging stopped.
“Making the logical decisions and running through her day like an AI-free robot,” Minh said.
Mechanics started running scans on the middle of the Warlord from every direction. Jake didn’t bother scanning from a distance; they’d know whether the work on the hull was complete in a moment. “That’s dead on, I think. I want to be there when she needs me,” Jake said. “But she’s right. We started hiring at the gate today, we’re going to need everything from ships to cash to food. Most of the materializers we brought down with us from the Triton are burned out or broken down, and no one has parts.”
“Manage to grab any of the working ones for the Warlord?” Minh-Chu asked.
“One, but it’s on its last legs. Finn can machine parts, but the raw materials are just like everything else we need for machines from the Triton – rare and expensive.”
“Speaking of which, is Ashley coming with us for the Warlord’s maiden voyage?”
“Nice,” Jake said, smiling for the first time that day. “She’s still on the Triton with Oz. She’s signed up as the Warlord’s pilot, so she’ll be aboard. You square things with Paula?”
“No,” Minh replied. “Why?”
“Because she’s coming this way,” Jake said.
A surge of cheering echoed across the hangar as the technicians, mechanics, and labourers celebrated the completion of the Warlord’s outer hull. Shamus Frost slid down a catwalk ladder near the front of the hangar and started walking towards Jake, grinning from ear to ear. “Can’t believe we managed it,” he said. “The Warlord’s got all his armour, and it’s almost as pure as the stuff we grew it from. Maybe a point three percent difference. Took twice as long as it would have if we were in orbital dry dock, but you work with what you have.”
“That’s the truth,” Jake replied.
He could hear Paula telling Minh: “I should have seen it when we were still on the Triton, but I cared about you too much.”
“Seen what?” Minh-Chu asked.
“That you’re just like every other man, preferring slut over substance. You can have her! She’s the doll of the fleet! How can I compete with that? I just wish you broke it off with me earlier.”
“I did!” Minh-Chu replied. “You ignored me!”
“Whatever! You better hope things work out with miss curves-and-no-nerve though, because while you’re out there, I’ll be down here telling all the women what kind of an asshole you really are. I should have known better than to get horizontal with an escaped mental patient!” she shouted the last so loudly that it echoed.
Frost’s laughter almost matched in volume and intensity. “Escaped mental patient?”
“Oh, and I’m pregnant,” Paula added.
Frost was surprised for a moment, then laughed so hard he had to steady himself on Jake’s arm.
“It’s not mine, we never-“ Minh-Chu started to argue.
“I know, It’s Jaime’s. I’m keeping it.”
“Joyboy?” Minh asked.
“Yeah! I’ve been cheating on you and you never even noticed even though it’s right there on Crewcast!”
Jake was having a hard time keeping his mirth under wraps as Frost looked like he was about to either fall over or start hyperventilating or both. “Easy, there, Chief,” he said with a chortle. He caught a glimpse of a thin smile growing across Minh-Chu’s face. It was an expression Jake had seen only when Minh was arguing with one of his sisters.
“I wish you and Joyboy the best of luck. I hope you have quintuplets,” Minh said.
Paula stared at him agape for a long moment then spun on her heel and marched back towards the launch area.
“Thank God I’m not serving on the Triton,” Minh-Chu said. “She’ll need a few weeks to cool down.”
“Escaped mental patient?” Frost said, wiping his eyes. “That’s a story I have got to hear.”
“When we’re in transit,” Jake said. “Change of plans, we leave in two hours.”
Frost only looked mildly surprised as he nodded. “Aye. Destination?”
“The Schengal System,” Jake replied.
“We’re not going after Edward?” Frost asked in a whisper. “I thought we’d track him then take down a freighter on our way out. Unless he’s bought his way out of the slums.”
“We need cash more than we need that detour,” Jake said. “Besides, not even Jason has been able to link him with Wheeler. It’ll keep until we know more. I doubt he can trade his way out of the Low Zones.”
“Then cash it is,” Frost said. “But if he stays in the Low Z too long, the streets might kill him before we get there.”
“I’ll take that chance. If it were Wheeler, Thurge, or Burke, it would be a different story.”
“Glad to hear it. Wish I had contacts here, we’d already have Burke.”
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework Page 29