Any dead rogue was a good sight, but seeing Basilisk rotating dead in space would have been much more comforting.
“It wasn’t my intension to frighten you. Are you all right, Journeyman Hawthorne?” Ven’s soothing voice—nothing like the somewhat hollow tone of ship-wide communications—sounded close to her ear. Very close.
Liv looked down at the hand she gripped, warm with strong elegant fingers, a dusting of dark hair marching up a toned forearm. Vengeance’s drone.
She swallowed then jumped when he spoke to her again. “Journeyman Engineer Hawthorne?”
“Yeah?” she breathed.
“Are you all right?”
“Uh… I’m… I think I’m okay. Ask me again later.” She forced her fingers to release the drone’s hand and stepped back, straightening her shoulders. Composed again, she looked around the room. Renee stood at Ven’s opposite shoulder, tucked against his side with Ven’s other arm draped around her protectively.
Renee’s expression held the slightly vacant look of deep link. She was likely assessing Ven’s battle damage.
Liv shifted her attention from Renee to Ven and found his expression intense, far from vacant or unfocused. He studied her a moment more then shifted back into full battle mode.
“Commander Lisk, prepare ground troop units for immediate deployments. Forty-seven infiltration drillers are behind my shield and presently penetrating my hull. We are being boarded.”
Lisk muttered a curse as he surged into action, informing Captain Welner on one energy web while simultaneously giving ship-wide orders to intercept and disable enemy sentinels.
“Remaining two ships on approach,” Ven informed him.
Commander Lisk swore again. “The insane suicidal bastards are going to ram us.”
Ven’s voice remained calm. “They’re rogues. As far as AIs go, they’re the very definition of insane.”
Lisk mumbled something unflattering under his breath.
Ven continued like he hadn’t heard. “They’re smaller, and would do more damage to themselves than me. However, they are 45.035 seconds from impact, and I am 33.295 seconds from full drive initialization.”
Something didn’t feel right. Ven’s theory was logical, but he didn’t think like a rogue. Nor had he been abducted and tortured by the chaotic mind-invasion of an insane AI.
They wouldn’t allow Ven to escape. They couldn’t allow him to return with reinforcements. Because of her past, Liv knew of one way to prevent Ven from leaving, which meant the surviving rogues most likely did too. But they would need to be closer. Liv’s stomach swirled again as she realized Ven had miscalculated.
“They’re not planning to ram us!” Liv yelled. She immediately reached out to Renee, expanding her mental shields toward the other telepath. But Liv was seconds too late, and Renee screamed, her hands rising to her head as if protecting herself from a physical blow.
But Liv knew the act was futile. Renee couldn’t possibly defend herself. Liv had spent days experimenting and practicing to push Basilisk out of her mind, days filled with torment and pain as he fought back. She’d eventually succeeded and figured out how to construct a mental shield, which the rogues scraped and clawed at now as they looked for any weaknesses and attempted to finish what they’d started. The AIs no longer had abduction on their minds, but Ven’s destruction, and the only way to destroy him was by taking out his links.
The rogues were trying to murder Renee.
Chapter Eighteen
As Liv watched Renee’s fingers curl helplessly in her hair, she tried to expand her shield to protect her, but in her panic, the link fought her.
Ven, as panicked as Renee, became defensive. The two sentinels within the command center flanked her, their weapons aimed at the nearest crewmembers.
“Get back!” Ven ordered, his drone holding Renee in his arms as she continued to scream and grip her head. Liv inched forward, knowing it was foolish given Ven’s fear, but it didn’t matter. If she couldn’t help Renee and get Ven’s attention back on the fight with the rogues, she was dead anyway. All the crew would be too.
“Ven, listen to me,” she said gently, holding her hands out in front of her. “You need to fire everything you have at the other two ships. One of them is attacking Renee, and they’ll target your other telepaths as well. You need to distract them.”
Liv inched a little closer to his drone, who held her gaze, his panic and confusion briefly shifting to a murderous rage before she heard his cannons initializing rapid fire.
“Good,” Liv assured him, trying to sound as calm and soothing as she could even though she was terrified as well. “Now you need to get Renee to medical. Let me help.”
Liv had almost reached his drone and Renee when one of the sentinels trained his weapons on her.
Damn it. Ven obviously wasn’t going to let her get close enough to Renee to blanket her in added protection.
Of course, if she didn’t give Ven some kind of warning, and Renee suddenly disappeared from his mind, he might panic again and get everyone killed.
Liv mentally cursed, but held her hands above her head. She was in a hopeless situation. If she revealed her telepathic powers now, Ven might think she was in league with the rogues, but if she didn’t do something, Renee would die.
Maybe, she thought, I can slowly add layers to the shield around Renee without Ven noticing.
“It’s all right, Ven,” she promised him. “I’m going to help you. Let’s get Renee to medical.” She stepped closer to the sentinel whose weapons were still pointed toward her, but he didn’t fire. Liv took a slow, deep breath and interpreted that as permission to act. She stepped around the sentinel and stood in front of Ven’s drone, reaching out carefully to put a hand on his shoulder.
The drone never looked away from her. “Five of my telepaths are dead and four others are dying. Renee is the strongest of them, but…” His voice cracked, and grief transformed his features, his dark brown eyes filled with so much pain.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “But look…” Liv gestured toward Ven’s link, whom he still held in his arms. “She’s looking better. And you’re right: She is strong, Ven. But we need to get her down to medical now.”
Liv added another layer to her shield surrounding Renee, but Ven’s arms tightened around his link and he cried, “Renee? Liv, I can’t feel Renee!”
“Okay, maybe that’s a good thing,” Liv lied. “Maybe she’s blocking out everything else to protect herself.” Liv glanced behind her at the crew, most of whom had returned to their stations to override automated systems so they could help Ven fight back. Even with all weapons at full power, the battle images that spread across the energy webs didn’t look good.
Ven needed to get the hell out of here, but without his telepaths, he couldn’t transit without experiencing total sensory disconnect.
“Are you still able to fire your heavy drives?” she asked him.
“Yes,” Ven answered, “but that will be useless without—”
“We’ve got another wave of drillers incoming, Commander!” Lieutenant Turner yelled as she looked over her shoulder, her face pale as she studied the images. Liv could guess what she was thinking—everyone onboard was about to die.
Liv took a deep breath and closed her eyes. These bastards won’t win. Not if I can help it.
This time, Liv didn’t hesitate. She allowed her telepathy to merge completely with Renee’s.
“What?” Renee’s voice was like a whisper in her mind.
“It’s all right, Renee. It’s Liv. I’m shielding you from the rogues, which has cut you off from Ven too. I’ll protect you.”
“Liv?” That whisper had weakened to a breath. Blood dripped from her nose and ears, and Liv placed a hand on her forehead, affectionate and heartbroken because in that moment, she realized she might fail after all. Even with a full complement of nanos and all the best equipment at medical, they could still lose Renee.
“I spent weeks learning how
to block the rogues,” Liv explained. “That’s how we eventually escaped. We’ll get you to medical. I’ll stay linked with you until we’re safely away from these rogues.”
“Vengeance,” Renee pleaded.
That one word repeated in her mind. Vengeance. Renee was asking Liv to do the exact thing she’d been avoiding her entire adult life. Renee wanted her to fill the gap she was leaving behind.
“I can’t,” Liv insisted.
Renee’s eyes fluttered open and momentarily held Liv in an unwavering gaze before they closed again. The exertion of their conversation was taking a toll on her. “Death…” Renee whispered.
Liv glanced up at Ven’s drone, who watched her carefully. She understood what Renee wanted to tell her but couldn’t: If she didn’t forge a link with Ven, everyone—including Ven himself—would die. And while she didn’t want to die, she couldn’t remember how to form a link with an AI.
Liv let her hand slide from Renee’s forehead to her arm then she wrapped her fingers around the link’s cool, clammy hand. Around the deck, the conversations of the crewmembers as they struggled to repel the rogues seemed muted and distant, like she’d plunged herself beneath the tranquil waters of a crystalline lake filled with bradan.
She closed her eyes and pulled up a memory that had been tucked away for twenty years, a peaceful, happy memory of lush green grass next to the bank of an aquamarine river of Nualla. Ven set her basket of dolls on the ground, and she sat next to it, pulling out the doll with auburn hair so she could hand it to him. And his drone lowered himself to the ground, digging through the basket until he found the doll with blond hair and, smiling, handed it to the little girl who wanted to play.
How boring it must have been for an AI like Vengeance to sit in the grass of Nualla and pretend a doll was alive. But he’d indulged her, as always.
She’d spent years believing he hadn’t loved her enough to rescue her. As an adult, she’d learned he’d had to archive his memories of her in order to survive, but even now, with everyone’s fate in her hands, linking with him again required a kind of trust she didn’t think she still possessed.
Renee’s fingers twitched, and Liv opened her eyes.
The link had been watching her.
“Please…” Renee’s voice seemed so weak now.
A stabbing pain in Liv’s chest made her blink back tears. Ven couldn’t know yet that she was losing hope Renee could survive.
“I’ll try,” Liv promised.
With Ven attempting to reconnect with Renee, Liv suspected his link could serve as a conduit between them. Liv could connect fully with Renee then as soon as Ven’s mind touched his link’s, she’d use her own telepathy to keep him from suffering a sensory disconnect as he transited. She released the shield she’d constructed to protect Renee long enough to merge their telepathic abilities then she wrapped her own defenses protectively around the older telepath’s mind.
Liv hoped Renee’s mind would mask her true thoughts from Ven. He’d know she was a telepath, but he wouldn’t be able to see her memories of him from her childhood. If she had to escape after this battle, assuming he and the crew were able to get to safety, she’d figure out how to run then. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Renee suddenly groaned, fresh blood dripping from her nose. As if there’d been some kind of silent signal, Ven clutched his link to his chest and ran, his sentinels flanking his drone to protect Renee.
Liv swore under her breath and followed them. Commander Lisk’s voice trailed after her, but she had to disobey him. If his drone and sentinels made it around the bend in the outer corridor before she caught up, she’d never run them down. They were all far faster than any human.
Crewmembers scattered before the drone and sentinels but formed obstacles that slowed him down enough for Liv to gain ground on the rearmost sentinel. When he slowed again at a sharp bend in the corridor, she launched herself at him and prayed he didn’t swat her like a bug.
She collided with bruising force but managed to hook an arm and a leg around his massive forearm. After hoisting herself up, she straddled an uncomfortably warm cannon.
“Ven, hand me Renee!” she exclaimed. “I’ll help keep her warm. She’s going into shock. Your sentinels can outpace your drone body, and they can get us to medical much faster.”
Seconds ticked by, and Ven continued to run, his drone making no outward response that he’d heard her, much less that he intended to obey her. But the lead sentinel suddenly twisted at the waist and lifted the humanoid drone and Renee into his arms then the sentinel carrying Liv shifted his massive forearm, causing her to slide. Liv shrieked, thinking he planned to shake her off, but instead found herself being repositioned into the crook of his arm, like he was cradling a child.
While her new position was more than a little embarrassing, at least it was secure. Another sentinel gently lowered Renee next to her, his careful movements delicate, at odds with his otherwise fierce and lethal demeanor.
Liv wrapped her arms around the older woman’s frail shoulders. The smaller body was already wracked with violent shivers. It hardly seemed possible that this was the same woman who had always seemed so strong and invincible, particularly when she was a child.
She’d idolized Renee, and looking at her now, Liv’s throat clenched and burned as she struggled to maintain their link.
“Hang in there, Renee,” Liv begged, pressing her body as close as she could to the older woman’s, whose tremors and damp, cool skin signaled she was losing this fight. “We’re almost at medical. Ven and his med units will have you fixed up in no time.” Liv forced a weak smile as she shored up her mental link with Renee.
“Liv,” Renee whispered into her mind. “Merge fully… now.”
She held her breath and stared at Renee. After a seemingly endless moment of indecision, Liv pushed past her fears and galvanized their link. Shifting thoughts and emotions flowed between them, transforming until she was no longer alone in her own mind. She and Renee became the same woman, a different woman, no longer themselves but someone else altogether.
And together, their primary concern was for the man both women loved.
Ven’s sentinels and drones faltered, their pace slowing as they gaped at the women who had reestablished a link with him. But Vengeance hadn’t earned his reputation as a legendary Warship of the Spire because he hesitated in the heat of battle. After blinking at Liv, his surprise was quickly replaced by elation that he could finally do something to fight back. With the link reconnected, he could transit. And his crew stood a chance at survival.
Outside, the space battle still raged. Liv assessed Ven’s damage through their link, and his hull was being riddled with impact craters. His deep space communication array and eight of his portside fusion cannons had just been sheared from him. He was leaking atmosphere from several levels. But hope had been rekindled and sparked across all his thought patterns.
“Ven,” she said, “Trinity-Nine informs me that the station has been successfully evacuated of all crew and civilians. The last ship just transited. Fire main engines and initiate transit by order of my command authority. Victor 5-delta. Emergency safety override protocol.”
Liv had directed the commands to Ven’s primary core. He couldn’t disobey.
“Acknowledged,” Ven responded, his mind merging with theirs. He immediately assessed the damage to Renee’s body and discovered three separate hematomas that were causing increased pressure in the cranium. All were within repairable thresholds.
The great Neit Class warship shook all around them as he transited without proper failsafe or stabilization. After thirty-seven seconds of intense hull shaking, Ven flowed into full transit mode, his trajectory, speed, and stabilizers aligning to proper parameters.
“Transit achieved. Enemy ships unable to follow,” Ven reported. “Assessing damages to self.”
Reports flashed thought their mind as the rigors of transit took their toll on Ven. If not for the heavy damage he’d sus
tained, he would have required full link immediately upon entering transit to stave off sensory disconnect, but innumerable reports from his own nervous system had flooded in moments before transit and had sustained him for the first few seconds of travel.
But now, Ven depended entirely on them to provide life-sustaining information, critical for optimal balance.
As Ven’s emotions and sensations merged deeper through their link, those fears that had become instinctive for Liv disrupted their connection, partially separating Renee from Liv, just enough to allow the younger telepath to reestablish her sense of self.
The sudden, unexpected distance from the other two minds left a hollow pit within her, and for a moment, she understood the AIs’ great fear of disconnect from the hive-mind and the resulting sensory deprivation. Liv somehow managed to maintain enough of her link with Renee that they could still provide what Ven needed to transit, during which time Renee continued to weaken.
“Exiting transit in five, four, three, two, one,” Ven called out over the ship-wide comm. Liv allowed the link with Renee to break, and finally paid attention to her surroundings. Ven’s sentinels had continued to cover ground, and she recognized this part of the ship as the medical ward.
She smiled and had just begun to untangle her arms from around Renee’s body when tendrils of warning slid along her mind and scattered her thoughts. She sat up straighter and searched for the source.
From the east corridor, two sections away, a rogue’s mind caressed hers with icy curiosity. And it was approaching fast.
Without telepaths of their own, the rogue AIs had been unable to enter transit and follow Ven as he fled. But they hadn’t transited alone.
Vengeance (Warships of the Spire Book 1) Page 14