The short woman looked around, and a bit of tension worked its way out of her shoulders. It was a testament to her leadership that all her people did was nod their heads.
“I have received a communication from Ricky Bobby,” she started. She had to put a hand up to quiet everyone. All knew her story, and all knew why she didn’t give names to her EIs anymore. “He sent me a long dissertation on the meaning of life, believe it or not.”
“That had to be pretty fucked up,” Pilot Marco Fortinbras interjected. “He’s been in the Leath system, how long?”
Julianna’s head dipped slightly. “Too damned long,” she agreed as she straightened her back. “He explained that when he powered up enough to send Etheric messages his ship was hot to radar, so he has not tried to communicate with me before this for mission reasons.”
Pilot Yutaka Bounds shook her head. “Damn.”
“He has less than six months of power left.”
“WHAT?” Glen and Megan both exclaimed at the same time.
Resident geek and self-proclaimed nerd Ace Pilot Billy S. O’Neill piped up, “I thought he could basically pull forever from the Etheric?”
“Apparently not.” Julianna shrugged her shoulders. “Remember, that version of the Black Eagle wasn’t expected to go on long-range deployments. All same-system.”
Billy continued, “Damn, that’s right. Well, shit. I’m surprised he hasn’t bit the big bippy already.” Kristin punched him in the arm. “What the hell?”
“That’s for being a typical guy,” she told him. “Can’t you see that RB means something to the squadron leader?”
“It was just a comment.” He turned to Julianna. “I didn’t mean anything bad, Cap, I promise.”
“Don’t sweat it, Billy,” Julianna answered him, then looked at the assembled pilots. “I have a lot of leave coming to me, so I’ve requested the highest priority I can and I’m going to figure out a way to get into the system and get my fucking friend back.”
“I’m in,” Billy said, and heads turned in his direction, including Julianna’s. “What?” He looked around. “It’s obvious she is going to need help, and fuck all, I’m going to do this too. No way she’s going alone.”
“It’s a death gamble, Billy.” Julianna gave him a small smile. “I really appreciate it, but there is no fucking way even the two of us are going to get him out by ourselves, so…”
“I’m in,” Marco Fortinbras announced. “That’s three.”
“Four,” Chita Korwek added.
“Five.” Sebastian Kesler gave Julianna a thumbs-up.
“Six,” Kristin Roscoe added. “But I’d better get time for a lot of sex between now and death.”
“Seven,” Glen O'Sullivan agreed. “And I’d like to personally offer my services to Kristin as a fellow pilot and…”
Megan Cahill turned in her chair and eyed the man. “Oh, shut the fuck up, Glen,” she told him. “I’m getting a piece of that first if there are options here.” She turned back to Julianna. “I’m eight.”
“Nine,” Sandra Horwath added. “But I have my own side quest. Do we have a week?”
All eyes turned to Julianna, who looked back at them all, dazed. “Yes?” She finally caught up to the question. “I mean, I went to the top for my request.”
“Ten,” Yutaka Bounds jumped in after someone else whistled. “You went to Admiral Thomas?”
Julianna shook her head.
“Eleven,” Shana Mulch added.
“I’ll be twelve.” Orsina Kossek raised an eyebrow. “You asked the General?”
“Holy fuck, Top,” Billy whispered. “You went to the EMPRESS?”
Julianna nodded, her voice quiet. “I just hope she remembers me,” she told everyone there. “I won’t get anywhere in an empress’ ship if she doesn’t approve, so I’ll get on my knees if I have to.”
She smiled to her people, her eyes glistening. “I didn’t tell you the piece that cinched it for me, and I thank you more than any words I can say.”
There was a pause before Shana Mulch tapped her knee. “Don’t be making me wait for the big reveal.”
They all chuckled as Julianna truly smiled at them all, brightening the room.
“I think Ricky Bobby has ascended to AI status.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
QBS ArchAngel II, Pilots’ Ready Room
ArchAngel’s voice cut into the chatter around the mocha pot. “Captain Julianna Fregin, please report to Level Six Meeting Room Four-Two-One.”
Julianna turned toward the nearest speaker. “Do I bring my second?”
“Negative, Captain. Request is for just you, please,” the AI said. The fact it sounded just like the Empress occasionally still caught her by surprise.
Julianna kept a smile plastered on her face, but she thought it odd that she would be called back to the same meeting room she had used a couple mornings back. She nodded to Vasco, handed her chocolatey coffee to a pilot, and stepped out of the room to walk down the passageway, nodding to two engineers.
She would have rather tripped them to relieve her tension.
“ArchAngel,” she subvocalized into her microphone, hearing the AI in her ears.
“Yes, Captain?”
“What meeting is this?”
“The one with the admiral.”
Julianna almost tripped. “Admiral?” she replied to the AI. “When was I scheduled to meet with the admiral? Or are others joining?”
“No, just the admiral,” the AI replied. “He arrived on-ship twenty minutes ago from Meredith Reynolds.”
Julianna’s face lost a little color. After her meeting with her team, they had enjoyed breakfast together and then she had grabbed a couple hours’ sleep before she went on duty. The conversation and meetings had almost felt like a dream as she waited for the Empress’ response.
Now she was meeting with the Empress’ direct representative.
She went up three levels and walked to the meeting room, nodding to the Yollin and human Marines who stood beside the door.
“You can go in, Captain,” the Yollin Marine told her. “You are expected.”
Nodding sharply, Julianna opened the door and stepped in. The admiral was sitting in front of the podium in the first row of chairs, and he had a briefcase open on the seat beside him. There were papers in the briefcase, and a folder open in his lap.
“Captain Julianna Fregin reporting as ordered, sir.” She stopped smartly in front of him, not sure what to expect.
He looked up at her and smiled. “At ease, Captain,” he told her, then pointed to his left. “Please have a seat.”
She looked at the chair, back at him, and then at the chair again.
“I don’t like to look up the whole time, and this is a relatively unofficial meeting, Captain.”
“Yes, sir.” Keeping her mouth shut until a question was posed would be her safest option at the moment.
He closed the folder and placed it into the briefcase. “I understand you requested special consideration for extended leave based on your time in service, Captain?”
“Yes, sir,” she answered, turning slightly to try and face him. He laid an arm along the back of the chair, looking relaxed.
“Care to explain why, Captain?”
“Not particularly,” she admitted. “However, I will if requested.”
“Please.” He made a circle with his hand. “I’d like to understand a little more.”
She desperately wanted to know, “More what?” Instead, she swallowed once more and opened with the best strategy she could figure out.
The truth.
“Sir, I’ve received a communication from Ricky Bobby.” He nodded for her to continue. “He was my EI that went through the gate with the Leath, sir.”
“I remember, Captain. Your ship was damaged and you had to fly back by stick from that battle.”
“Uh, yes sir,” she admitted. “Sir, he sent me a packet during his latest communication with us. I didn’t realize he hadn’
t communicated with me for operational reasons.”
“I’m sorry,” Admiral Thomas looked up for a moment as if he were speaking with someone in his head. “Ah, I see. No one explained that to you, at least not officially.”
“Sir, neither officially or unofficially. I was never told.”
“Well,” he admitted, “that was a mistake on our part. You know that Ricky Bobby is the reason we have been able to keep the Leath at bay all these decades, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” she admitted. “I’ve been given a few ‘at-a-girls’ over the years for his success.”
“Both of your success,” the admiral clarified. “You two rushed the gate, and he slipped through while you fought to get back out alive. That was a “sacrificial lamb” run you were sent on.”
She just shrugged. In the heat of the moment, she’d had no clue what they were doing. It had been just the two of them and a fuck-ton of enemies as they slammed their thrusters forward and raced to the gate.
“So when you request special consideration from the Empress, you have to know she is going to take it very seriously. So seriously that she authorized a few surreptitious data runs by ADAM himself.”
All those years flying combat had given her nerves of steel, which allowed her not to display her dismay that the Empress had her personal AI do research. If half the rumors about ADAM were true, there wasn’t anything digital and much that which wasn’t digital he couldn’t figure out.
“No, he isn’t omniscient,” Admiral Thomas chuckled. “And no, I’m not reading your mind.”
“Ahhh—” she got out before he shook his head.
“I’ve been dealing long enough with those who don’t regularly speak with ADAM to know what they’re thinking.” He winked at her. “Although he might not admit he isn’t all-knowing.”
“And?” she finally asked.
“He concurs with your assertion that Ricky Bobby has most likely ascended to AI status. For what it is worth, we would have done this anyway.” He turned in the chair and reached over, closing and locking his briefcase. He grabbed the handle as he stood. “Duty calls, Captain.”
“What, sir?”
He turned and raised an eyebrow. “You said, ‘We would have done this anyway.’ What is the ‘this’ you spoke of?”
“Did I fail to mention that?” he asked. “No, I didn’t fail. I’m just waiting for…”
“I am here, Admiral,” ArchAngel’s voice said over the speakers.
“I was wondering,” Admiral Thomas said to the speakers. “I thought perhaps you had another meeting.”
“No, I’m on my way to Meredith Reynolds,” the voice said.
That was when Julianna realized it was Empress Bethany Anne speaking, not ArchAngel.
“The good captain here is wondering what we are going to do?” Admiral Thomas asked.
“Captain Julianna Fregin,” the Empress said, “you are commanded by your empress to select yourself and twelve others for a dangerous mission. You and your group will go deep into the Leath System to rescue one of our own, who has been diligent in his surveillance of the Leath. During this mission, you will attack ships in the Leath System, drawing them into a trap of our design.”
This time her shock was complete. She had nothing to say.
“Cat got your tongue, Captain?” Admiral Thomas was grinning at her.
“Further,” the Empress continued, “we will have an armada at the ready, which will wait for the thirteen of you to return to our side before we unleash our final effort. The Leath have suffered enough at the hands of the Kurtherians.” Her voice had gone deep.
“Captain?” The Empress sounded like she was barely holding in anger and was ready to explode.
“Yes, my Empress?” Julianna answered.
“We leave no one behind.”
Yollin System
The ship sporting the vampire emblem slid through the vastness of space. It cut through the currents of energy, barely leaving behind any disturbances which might help someone ascertain the ship had ever been there.
Even the Empire’s best failed to find the ship on their sensors.
It was black, it was sleek, and it was death. It was the culmination of a lot of technology and research, and there was nothing in known space which could track it at this moment.
Which was the plan.
If someone tracked and destroyed the Shinigami, then Baba Yaga and the Empress herself would be killed.
So, the Empire worked hard to hide the ship from the best sensors. At times they created new sensors just to try them out against the ship. Once they had confirmed the efficacy of the sensors and the ship, they would determine how to best use these new sensors for the benefit of their Space Navy.
Still, darkness engulfed the ship, and it passed others without them knowing it was there as it sliced toward the Meredith Reynolds.
The Meredith Reynolds had received a note that it was coming in, and on the dark side, away from the main docks, a forcefield blinked off. The ship eased into the blacked-out port and came to rest. The forcefield blinked back on, and the docking bay was repressurized.
The back ramp lowered and two figures descended, then walked toward the faintly illuminated exit.
Moments later the ship was in total darkness again, transferring data pertaining to the Empress’ trip to the QBBS Meredith Reynolds and from there to QBS ArchAngel II and others.
>>Bethany Anne, your father would like to speak to you.<<
About? she asked. I’m dying for a Coke. I had that ship prepared for anyone who might go with me. Hell, I even had Gabrielle’s stuff loaded in case she was ok with leaving since the twins are in college. However, did I even think for a moment that I failed to load any Coke? No, I did not. And do you know why?
>>Not at the moment, but I calculate I will.<<
Damn right you will, she huffed. I didn’t because I was thinking about secrecy, security, and making sure I had the ability to take someone along for the ride. “Make sure that someone goes with you, Bethany Anne,” they told me. What they should have fucking said was “Don’t forget your Coke, Bethany Anne.” I swear Devon is going to be an all-Coke planet. This Mistress is going to be a bitch until I drink some Coke.
There was a pause.
>>The General says he is more than happy to wait until you have a Coke.<<
Damn right he will be happy to wait. He will be even more happy to not have his daughter bitching at him from Coke deprivation, I bet you.
Bethany Anne patted Stephen on the arm and the two of them stopped. “Hey, I appreciate your help on Devon, and remember…”
“What happened on Devon—”
“Stays on Devon.” She smiled. “Exactly.”
“And all the data from Shinigami?” Stephen asked.
“Is flowing through ADAM first. If he can’t figure it out, I will review it.” She waited a moment, then added. “And that includes all the video you took of our activities. Don’t think I didn’t catch your little ‘Baba Yaga exposé.’”
“It was going to be a small video for a 101-level class or something.”
“I’ll bet.” She looked around. “I just realized, I’ve no idea if you can get out of here.”
“No, I can’t. We decided since you could go through the Etheric to get here, access from the space-side is all there is.”
She looked to her left. “Then where does this hall go?”
“Kitchen, with supplies.” He watched her bolt down the hallway, her boots clop clopping on the stone floor. “What are you doing?”
“Seeing if I have any Coke in here!” she yelled back, having already turned the corner.
A moment later he heard a shout.
“YES!”
“Sir,” Stephen mumbled to himself, sounding like a news vid reporter, “I understand the Empress has a drug problem.”
He changed back to his normal voice. “No, the Empress has no drug problem.”
“But inside sources,” he continued in
his reporter’s voice, “suggest she becomes quite volatile if she is deprived of the coriander-and-caffeine drink.”
“I assure you,” Stephen continued in his normal voice. “The empress is in no way a drug addict.”
Bethany Anne could be heard smacking her lips in the kitchen. “Come to Momma! I’ve missed you so badly. I’d give up sex for you.” There was a pause. “If I was having any, which I’m not. So, bottoms up!”
Stephen sighed and continued in his regular voice. “Then again, I may have been mistaken.”
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Lance Reynolds’ Office, Twenty-Five Minutes Later
Lance reviewed the manufacturing report on the BYPS, short for ‘Baba Yaga Protection System’ components. “Meredith, get William on line… No, sorry, get William at R2D2.”
A moment later a connection click sounded. “William here, General.”
“Are you seeing the same ‘gotchas’ I am?” the gruff voice asked.
“Yes, sir. We can manufacture a few thousand, but then we run out of raw materials.”
“Dammit to hell.” Lance reached up and took out the unlit cigar from his mouth. “Where do we get the raw materials?”
“Presently we trade for them. You have to have a pretty hard surface, and while there are asteroids with the components, no one had seen much of a need for the material to date, so there aren’t great amounts of the metal available.”
The General tapped his fingers. “Well, shit.”
“That was just about my thought, sir,” William agreed. “Have you asked Bethany Anne?”
A woman’s contralto voice next to Lance said, “Asked me what?”
“HEY!” Lance jerked to the side. “Gott Verdammt, don’t scare your old man like that!”
Bethany Anne bent down to kiss her father on the cheek before walking around his desk to sit in one of the two chairs in front of his desk. “I walked right in here.”
“Hi, boss!” William piped over the link.
“Hi, William,” Bethany Anne replied. “What are you looking for?”
“It’s a rare metal.” There was some mumbling. “Ok, Marcus says it isn’t so much that’s it’s rare as it just doesn’t have as much practical use, so there aren’t that many locations which mine the metal.”
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