by Will Crudge
“Jep is hailing.” Midas said empathetically. For the first time, Darius noticed the legendary AI’s mind was mingled with theirs. It donned on him in a flash. A new revelation.
Val is paired with Midas! He asserted in his own mind. But due to his own unique gifts, he made sure to keep that train of thought hidden deep within his self. Darius wasn’t entirely certain if that it was common knowledge, so he made a mental note to ask Val about it at a later time.
“Patch him through.” Val nodded.
Jep’s form appeared on the QET. Darius figured the War Master must have been in the CIC of the Hailstorm when the ominous feeling struck him. The QET could not function between points outside of slip-space, but it worked reasonably well between ships in close proximity, and in the same state of space-time. “I suppose you know why I am reaching out to you.”
Darius nodded along with Val, but he noticed that Gerhardt and Zeff seemed confused. He imagined what it would be like to be them while witnessing a group of people melding their consciousness all around them. It was probably a disturbing sight, he imagined.
“Then what’s our recourse?” Jep asked. Darius looked to Val this time. Jep had asked a very good question, and Darius hoped Val would have some sage advice.
“Shade is alive, at least.” Val said. “But she’s certainly in danger. An elder Zodiac wouldn’t register such strong emotion otherwise… We need to send help.”
Darius felt a sigh of relief. He wanted to say the same thing, but he was concerned his own feelings may have been clouded by his shared mental space with Shadow. It was the Zodiac’s role to keep the human partner mentally grounded, but now Darius was returning the favor for his dear friend.
“Any suggestions?” Darius looked to Val and then to Jep. There was a slight pause before either spoke.
“Condor needs to remain with the fleet.” Jep spoke up. “He is the strategic advisor to General Garcia, and his place is on this ship. My place is by your side, Darius. That leaves Jimma.”
“I could send a company of troops in her place.” Darius chimed in. “She’s bonding with her new mount and trying to ease off her separation with Sasha.”
“I’m afraid that won’t work either.” Jep shook his head. “The other War Masters within the human sphere are converging onto Crimson space, as are we. But none of them would know how to key in their awareness in order to track her properly. A company of troops would be even less effective in finding her. Besides, we can’t afford to divert front line troops from a theater of combat unless we are confident they’ll find success.”
Darius could only nod. He had to concede to wishes of the Guild elders. Jimma may not have been the ideal choice in general, but it was the only choice they had. “Very well, Jep. I’ll defer this decision to you, with Val’s blessing.”
“You have my approval, Jep.” Val frowned. “But please make it clear to Jimma… I’m only allowing it from a standpoint of necessity.”
“I understand, father.” Jep nodded, and then disappeared from view.
Allergies
Location: UAHC Sloop, Foehammer, Galley
Date Time: Post Interstellar 10/14/4201 0745HRS UAHC Standard Zulu
System: Faust System, Heliopause
Thomas took a long meaningful sip from his coffee cup. His eyes closed tightly and his brow wrinkled as he savored the complex menagerie of flavors. Real coffee was always the first thing they run out of on any UAHC ship, but when you have to share a light cruiser with an entire infantry battalion and a field artillery battery, then coffee doesn’t last more than a few weeks. He and his teammates had been out in the black for nine months.
Lisa was sitting adjacent to Thomas in the next booth, and she was making conspicuous orgasmic sounds as she chewed on real scrambled eggs. The XT-80 may have been the object of scorn amongst the crew, but it did have a stock-pile of eggs in a stasis field.
Todd was just gnawing on a fresh haunch of Canadian bacon, and seemed to could care less that his face was a glossy sheen of grease. His incessant gnawing would have grossed out the other two FISTER’s on any other occasion, but they were in their own little worlds of culinary bliss. None of them even noticed David and Kara enter the galley.
“Good morning, FISTER’s” David said. The three teammates quickly rose and snapped crisp salutes. David just waved them off.
“Fifteen years of elite training, and another year of Fire Support School, and you knuckleheads don’t know not to salute in a galley?!” David scoffed. All three of the FISTER’s froze with anxious expressions.
Hell, I didn’t even know that! Kara thought.
“Forgive me, Sir…” Thomas answered up. “But this ship layout is rather unconventional, and this isn’t exactly laid out like a traditional UAHC galley…” David cut him off.
“I’m just hazing you, Corporal.” The older man chuckled.
“Lance Corporal.” Thomas corrected.
“Uh, in what universe?” David pointed to Thomas’ status display. Thomas looked down at his right arm, and did a double take towards the rectangular screen. Two blue chevrons adorned his arm.
“I – I must have…” Thomas was cut off again.
“I know, I know… I slept through my promotion to Sergeant, years back.” David smiled and shook his head. “Imagine my surprise when I reported for duty just find out that I’d already been reassigned to another battalion!”
All three FISTER’s began to loosen up, but they still remained at the position of parade rest. They shared a few giggles, and then Kara gestured for them all to sit back down.
“Finish eating, by all means.” She said. “The rest of the crew has already eaten and completed shift-change. So, you’re not in any hurry.”
They all gave her an approving nod and went back to eating real food. But after another long draw of his coffee cup, Thomas noticed the two officers talking quietly amongst themselves. He took stock in their expressions, and quickly concluded that both of their new hosts seemed undecided about something.
He finished his coffee, put his tray away, and then sat back down while Lisa and Todd finished eating. He saw the conversation seem to evolve, and the two officers had replaced their shoulder shrugs and shaking heads with nods and more assertive body language. He didn’t know what to make of it, but something told him the situation wasn’t normal. He knew that after a rescue op, the rescuing ship was required to call it in, and get the survivors to the nearest UAHC installation, troop transport, or directly back to their assigned squadron’s flagship. The procedure was pretty straight forward and took precedence over anything besides combat action.
He continued to study them, and noticed they both officers were now walking towards the team. Each of them sat in a nearby booth, and then the female Lieutenant Colonel spoke first.
“I haven’t formally introduced myself.” Kara said. “I’m Lieutenant Colonel Kara Elders, and this is Captain David.”
Thomas cocked his head to one side, and Kara keyed in on his body language. She knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Yes, I know…” Kara nodded. “You’re probably wondering why a UAHC officer has been allowed to retain two names.”
All three teammates shared glances, and then turned back to Kara intently. “Well, that’s because I haven’t joined the UAHC under conventional means. I am an UDF transfer, and I served there as a Major before receiving my commission to Lieutenant Colonel in the UAHC.” She explained.
“Well, Ma’am.” Lisa chimed in. “I never knew such a thing was possible, but I’m ok with it.” She shrugged. The other two team members’ body language seemed to indicate that hey agreed with Lisa.
“Well, now that’s out of the way…” Kara took a long breath and then exhaled. “This ship is – unconventional – to say the least.”
Kara went on to explain how the ship was once a mine-layer, and that it was now repurposed for clandestine operations. She explained the unique crew makeup, but she noticed expressions of apprehension w
hen she mentioned Elizabeth and Napo. Although, the team seemed to humor her as she went on. She also noticed them share a few discreet side-long glances when she explained how a former pirate became a crew member, but they lightened up when she went into detail about his acts of heroism.
“Understood, Ma’am… don’t make fun of cops… try not to pick a fight with any pirates onboard… and don’t leave slabs of raw meat hanging off our racks!” Thomas said lightly. David seemed to begin breathing a little heavy when the cocky young FISTER spoke. Kara was well versed in the tension between standard Soldiers and the FISTER’s. It was a rivalry as old as time.
“But all things aside, we have a mission to accomplish.” David chimed in. “And it’s top priority, at that. So, all of you will have to hitch a ride with us until we get back to the main fleet.”
“Main Fleet?” Todd asked. “You mean we’re eventually going to push into Crimson space?”
David nodded. There was a slight pause, and Kara didn’t know if the FISTER’s took it as crushing news or not. But then they all stood up and began high-fiving each other enthusiastically.
“I take it, you’re good with that?” Kara asked.
“Yes, Ma’am!” Lisa squealed. “We were bummed when we got word we’d be left behind on patrol duties.”
Kara couldn’t quite figure these FISTER’s out. She likened them to the lack of reverence of Skull, but with the fearless embrace of mortal danger that a War Master would have. She looked at David to try to read his face, but he seemed just as perplexed. They were the sole survivors of a horrific attack with thousands dead, but they were just cheering at the prospect of more carnage. Skull would get a kick out of these three. She thought to herself.
“So, what’s the mission?” Thomas asked eagerly.
“We’ll know in about twenty minutes.” Kara replied. “We got thrown off of our time-table a little bit… for obvious reasons… but we’re about to be on top of our waypoint.”
“Orders for us?” Lisa asked.
“You three aren’t allergic to tigers are you?” David chuckled. Kara smiled at him, and then turned back to the team.
“We’re under-manned, and we don’t have enough personnel for a dedicated strike team.” Kara noted.
Thomas nodded. “We’ve got you covered, Ma’am. Are there any secondary duties on-ship that we’ll need to get on rotation for?”
“Not in the short-term.” David replied. “We’ll need you all to rest up, and keep your gear in top form for the moment. I don’t want to disrupt our current shift rotation until we know more about the mission.”
“Copy that, Sir. We’ll get our gear to the armory, and start making our checks right away.” Thomas acknowledged.
“And I wasn’t kidding about the tiger.” David said with a straight face. All three teammates seemed to scan back and forth between Kara and David, but neither betrayed any humor in his words.
“Speak of the devil!” Kara said, and she gestured towards the aft corridor. All three FISTER’s wheeled their heads around, and their jaws dropped.
Napo lumbered in and walked up to Kara. The teammates just glared incredulously at the sight of the massive beast. Kara rubbed his furry head, and he seemed to grumble out a growl-like purring sound.
“Napo, meet the FISTER’s.” Kara gestured towards the perplexed Soldiers sitting in the booths across from them
“Hello, FISTER’s.” His voice module converted his raspy vocalizations into human speech. “None of you have any cat allergies, do you?”
Angel of Death
Location: UAHC Frigate, Capricorn, Main Hold
Date Time: Post Interstellar 10/19/4201 0431HRS UAHC Standard Zulu
System: Sol System, Mid Region
Gail was still wondering why she was even alive. Her thoughts were clouded from a lack of sleep and ripples of pain. She had been experiencing hallucinations, and wondered how long it would be before her mind would begin to shut down entirely. She dreamed of being released from her cell, and being placed in a cleaner room of some kind, but her mind was too foggy to remember much detail.
All she knew was pain. Her years of intense training had served her well up until this point, but she was quickly losing her grip on reality. She tried clinging to pleasant thoughts from her childhood, like she’d been trained to do, but it was no longer possible. She could barely remember a time before the chains. She could barely remember who she was.
Her latest hallucination had been lying next to her for the last several hours. Perhaps even days. She had no idea exactly. But she had enough clarity of thought to recognize that panthers weren’t the size of grizzly bears. This one looked like it was battered pretty hard too. But she had a hard time showing any form of empathy for a fictitious creature. She knew she had to cling to whatever scraps of reality she could cling to.
She supposed the heavy thudding of boots she kept hearing through the ceiling of the room was a mental construct too. Somehow her brain was finding some kind of stimuli to keep her mind from losing itself completely. She was also grateful for the pain.
The glorious pain.
It reminded her that she wasn’t dead. It was a constant companion. She tried to muster the strength to laugh in spite of the irony, but her throat was so dry that she only felt more pain.
Good. She thought to herself. The feeling of a new sensation of pain was a break in the monotony of her current situation. All she could do was fully accept the pain. She embraced it fully. Every spasm. Every twitch. It kept her conscious.
But then she hear something new. It was a metallic noise, perhaps a hinge. But she was too weak to pull her head out of its slumped position to look where it came from. The sound ceased, and then a new sound entered her awareness. Footsteps.
She could only see a shadow creep up to the bear-panther, and she wondered if the shadow could see the hallucination as well. If so, then she supposed the shadow was also just a mental construct.
Sure enough, the shadow seemed to be petting the creature. It even began to make solemn whispering sounds towards it. She couldn’t make out any words, but she could almost hear the creature respond in a low grumbly voice. Now I’ve lost my mind, at last. She concluded.
The whispers and low grumbles continued for several moments, but then the shadow put something on the deck below. Gail couldn’t see it clearly, but it appeared to be a bowl-shaped object that made a light scraping noise as the shadow pushed it up to the bear panther’s muzzle. For the first time, she saw the creature stir, and it began to lick the bowl.
Now my hallucinations are taunting me. My mind is imagining a nice cool drink of water. But then the shadow disappeared from view. She could hear something in front of her. The shadow must have come closer to her, she realized. She supposed it was going to get a close up view of her as she suffered through her torment. But then her limited field of view began to shift upward.
She then realized that there were finger tips on her forehead, and they were lifting her head up. The shadow began to speak.
“It’s alright.” It whispered. “You’ll be alright.”
She couldn’t respond. Her throat felt like she’d swallowed a thousand razor blades. But then something touched her lips.
Drinking tube! She struggled to purse her lips, but they were so dry they lacked any form of elasticity. But she forced her will upon them, and they finally complied… but with no small measure of pain. The motion ripped cracks in her skin, and warm blood dripped down her chin. But the cool refreshing water was worth every shred of pain.
The cool liquid soothed her aching throat as she enthusiastically gulped it down. Not too fast! She reminded herself. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a drink, so she had to mentally fight the urge to drink with reckless abandoned, lest she throw up or cramp. But her worries were irrelevant, because after a few more moments, she knew no more.
***
Jack entered the frigate’s bridge, and his two brothers turned their heads to greet
him. Charlie, his identical brother, was seated at the NAV station, and was sitting side-ways on the chair with his back to the port-side bulkhead. His left arm was resting on top of the chair back, and the seat’s support strut seemed to be straining to support the weight of his bright red spec ops armor.
Zedd… known only to his brothers as Nicolas… sat opposite of Charlie at the command console. He still had his dress uniform on, but front of his dress jacket was unbuttoned to accentuate his mental departure from his senior officer persona. Both men nodded when their former-captive brother entered the room.
“I must say, I’ve missed spec ops sub armor!” Jack said as he flexed his shoulders to get a feel of the sleek black ballistic fabric. “Slightly heavier than that bullshit security-guard crap I had to where on Earth, but it hugs you with a warm embrace!”
“I’ll bet!” Nicolas/Zedd nodded. “But you won’t have to put on any more façades any more, at least.”
“None of us do.” Charlie added.
“I suppose not.” Jack said as he leaned up against the bulkhead casually. “And we don’t have to worry about our precious cargo anymore either.” He said with a sinister smile. His two brothers shared a glance, and Jack saw them flushed with concern. Nicolas turned back to Jack with a scornful look.
“What – did – do?” Nicolas said as if he were interrogating someone.
Jack said nothing, but just smiled. He shoved himself off of the wall and began to approach his identical brother, Charlie. Both brothers traced his movements with their eyes as he approached.
“Trixie,” Jack said. “Prepare to be pulled.”
“Uh, ok?” The AI replied from the speakers in Charlie’s armor. “I’m all set.”
Jack reached behind Charlie’s head, and grabbed the embedded AI node from the port on the back of the shoulder plate. With the two-pronged rectangular node resting in his right palm, Jack held up small device in his left. And inserted the node into the side of it. The small black device was too compact for the brick-sized node to fully sink into, but the prongs seated securely. Both of his brothers just stared at him, as if they thought he’d lost his mind.