by S. E. Smith
Kordon finally got to Gracie’s last days on Earth. She was able to finally break through the programming codes and took over one of the supply ships two months before. When she discovered a way to bring the shields down it was a turning point. The problem was that in order to bring down all the shields at the same time, she needed to be on the mother ship to launch her virus to prevent the Alluthans from counteracting it. Since Gracie was the only one to know how to interpret their programming, she was the one who had to go.
Kordon’s fists clenched as he read about Gracie’s regret that her night with Chance was not to be. She knew deep down she would never see him again but hoped to have that one last memory to take with her. Her last entry talked about her shame of being afraid to die alone and her regret she would never know what happened to her friends and family. Her diary ended abruptly after that.
The door to his office open and Quan looked at Kordon. “We have a visual on the mother ship.” Quan said grimly. “It is a huge bastard.”
Kordon stood up and pressed the console to close Gracie’s diary. He would not let her die and if he had anything to say about it, she would never be alone again. It was time to claim his life mate.
Gracie was breathing almost normally by the time she made it to the level holding the women. She found if she just listened in and did not react in any way she was ignored. She mimicked the movements of the other creatures. She was only stopped once and a message flashed in across the vision portion of her helmet requesting assistance in moving some equipment. Fortunately, it was small containers that were relatively light. Once the task was completed, the creature giving her the order turned and disappeared as if she didn’t even exist.
Gracie moved down the corridor stopping in front of a set of doors. She stood there for a moment wonder if some special code was needed when a scan came out asking her to input her identification. Gracie almost panicked until she realized the inside of her helmet contained an identification code. Gracie punched the code in and the doors slid opened. Gracie took a step inside and moved towards the console. Only one Alluthan stood at the console. Gracie moved forward and stood to one side.
“Request permission for recharging.” The Alluthan asked in a disembodied voice. “Permission has been granted. Replacement is in position.”
Gracie stood still as the Alluthan turned to her. “Replacement 233-9095 is in position. Transfer locking codes complete.”
She hoped there was nothing else expected of her. She watched on the screen inside her helmet as a series of codes popped up. Using the movement of her eye, she created a file and saved the codes. Her eye moved rapidly over a series of characters giving the Alluthan acknowledgment of receipt of the codes. The Alluthan seemed satisfied as it turned and moved to the exit. Once Gracie was alone, she let her breath out and held up her trembling hand. She so sucked at espionage. She would make a really, really lousy spy, she decided.
Gracie turned to the console and located the cells containing the women. Pulling the codes up she discovered the security codes needed to unlock them where the ones transferred to her. The biggest trial was going to be figuring out how to get twenty-two women up several levels, onto the supply ship and out of the mother ship without being discovered. Right now, she was drawing a definite blank.
Gracie moved down the corridor and entered the first locking code. The doors slid open and Gracie moved quickly down the corridor looking for the number of the first set of cells. She rounded a corner and skidded to a stop in front of cell block 18. Inside was a small group of women huddled together towards the back of the cell. Gracie didn’t recognize any of them. She tried talking through the helmet but everything came out muffled. Pulling the helmet off, Gracie took a deep breath before grinning. Maybe I wouldn’t be so bad a spy, she thought as the women gasped in surprise.
“Hey! I’m Gracie.” Gracie said in English before grimacing and repeating it more slowly in Confederation Standard. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
One of the older women, probably a few years older than Gracie, slowly approached the bars of the cell. “Who…who are you?”
“Gracie.” Gracie rolled her eyes. Like that told her anything. “Just follow me.”
“Are there others with you?” Another woman said coming forward.
Gracie bit her lip and shook her head. “Not yet but there will be. We need to get the others out and get to one of the supply ships.” Gracie said softly while entering the unlocking code for the cell.
Gracie didn’t wait to see if the other women followed her. She would do what she could. The first thing was to get everyone out. Next, she would look for any weapons. She only had the small laser pistol she got from Mohan. Next, she would upload her viruses. Next…Gracie groaned…she needed to focus on one thing at a time.
“Gracie Jones?” A soft voice called out.
“Mohan?” Gracie said excitedly as she moved to the next cell.
Mohan reached through the narrow bars and touched Gracie’s cheek. “You are safe. I was so scared when I could not find you.”
“Are you okay? What are you doing here? How did they capture you?” Gracie asked as she punched in the codes to open the cell holding her friend.
Mohan nodded her head. “I tried to follow you. One of the creatures took me by surprise. I tried to run but the other ones cut me off.” Mohan pulled Gracie into her arms and gave her a big hug. “Does Kordon know where you are?”
Gracie pulled back and looked into her friend’s eyes. “I hope so. I programmed a message and sent it to him. I also set up a repeating signal, kind of like a tracking signal.” Gracie said. “I still need to upload a virus, find some weapons for us, and commandeer a supply ship to get us out of this sardine can.”
Mohan chuckled. “I like your language. It is funny.” Mohan said softly. “If anyone can get us out of here, Gracie, you can.”
The older woman who first talked to Gracie moved forward. “My name is Kacie. I don’t know who you are but if you can get me a weapon I’m pretty damn good with one. I can also pilot a ship if the one you get us isn’t too different from the one’s I’m used to. All I know is I’m ready to get out of here.” Several of the other women murmured in agreement.
Gracie smiled at Kacie before turning to the other women. “I’ve fought these creatures before. I need to disable their shields and shut down their systems. I promise to do everything I can to get you home.”
“Tell us what we can do, Gracie.” Mohan said.
“ Mohan, get on the console and see if you can contact the Conqueror.” Gracie turned as another woman approached.
“I can program just about anything if you get me into their systems.” A slender girl of about twenty said.
“My name is Mouse. If you can find some weapons, Beyra and I can get them.” Another girl with short, curly brown hair and a huge grin said. “We are good at acquisitioning items.” The other girl giggled and nodded.
Gracie turned as one woman after another mentioned things they could do to help. Several volunteered to find additional suits similar to what Gracie was wearing. Gracie was overwhelmed as the enthusiasm spread among the women and their optimism flared an answering call inside her. For the first time, she felt hope. She felt it blossoming and unfolding like the petals of a rose seeking the sunlight. Kordon’s face flashed through her mind and a grin spread across her face as she looked at Mohan.
“It’s time to kick some alien butt and let them know they messed with the wrong women!” Gracie said with determination.
“This is the ‘fuck you’ part?” Mohan asked with a grin. “I believe that was the word you were screaming when I first saw you.”
Gracie nodded and grinned back. “This is the ‘fuck you’ part.”
The next two hours were spent locked down in the detention cells. Grace tapped into the console. She showed Ladara, the young girl who knew programming how to get into the system and explained the difference in the program files. She uploaded severa
l viruses, nodding in excitement as Ladara made some suggestions to modifying it to spread more rapidly. She called it a flash burn. Gracie made Ladara to promise to show her how she did it when they got back home. In the meantime, Gracie worked at uploading the viruses to disable the shields. Mohan was sending messages to the Conqueror using a seldom used frequency in the hopes of it not being intercepted. Mouse and Beyra were dragging weapons back every ten to fifteen minutes. Gracie didn’t even bother to ask how or where they found them. Soon, enough suits and weapons were commandeered to make Gracie feel they had a fighting chance.
“I’m programming each of the helmets to translate the Alluthan language to Confederation Standard. It won’t translate everything but enough hopefully to give each of you a chance if we get separated to figure out where you are.” Gracie pulled up a holo-map of the ship. All the women gathered around her. “The Conqueror should be in range soon if they got my message. We need to get to this level. This is where the supply ships are docked. I found one that is fueled. I can keep control of the supply ship as the rest of the ship begins to shut down through a by-pass code in the virus I created. It is going to be a tight fit but all of us should be able to make it. Most of the Alluthans seem to travel in packs of three to five. I thought we would leave in small groups; three groups of three and two groups of five, and one group of four. We will leave at two minute intervals so we can keep each other in sight. The scary part will be when we need to separate for the lifts. Hopefully, there won’t be any problems. If there is…” Gracie looked at each of the women carefully. “…then we will deal with it. Everyone goes home…Everyone. Now, get suited up and check your weapons.” Each woman nodded in grim determination.
Mohan called out from behind Gracie. “Gracie, I have contact with the Conqueror.”
Gracie walked over and smiled back at Mohan. Pulling the headset on, Gracie said softly. “This is Gracie reaching out to the Conqueror. Do you hear me?”
Chapter 12
Kordon froze when he heard Gracie’s soft voice coming over the system. He was reviewing some of the modifications Cooraan and Bran had finished when Quan contacted him. Quan’s voice actually shook for a moment before he cleared his throat. A communication’s signal was received from Mohan. She and Gracie were aboard the Alluthan’s mother ship along with twenty-one other women. They needed assistance.
Mohan’s husky voice nearly brought Quan to his knees when he heard it. It was only the fear in her voice that brought out the warrior in him. He could feel the fierce protectiveness of the Zion male wanting to protect his life mate rise inside him.
“Mohan, are you injured?” Quan asked in a tight voice.
“No.” Mohan responded softly. “Gracie has a plan to get us off the mother ship. Quan…” Mohan’s voice faltered for a moment before she continued. “If anything should happen…”
Quan growled out in a low, dangerous tone. “Nothing will happen to you. You do whatever you need to do to remain safe, Mohan. I am coming for you.”
Mohan’s soft, trembling breath came over the system. “I know you will. But, if anything should happen I want you to know I love you.” Mohan said quietly. “I am proud to be called your life mate.”
Quan clenched his fists at her soft words. “I’m coming for you, Mohan. You be ready for me.”
“I will be. Gracie will tell you what the plans are.” Mohan said.
Quan heard Mohan call to Gracie. He immediately patched through to Kordon. “Kordon, Gracie is on the comlink.”
Kordon froze for a moment before steeling himself for the sound of Gracie’s soft voice. The moment he heard it he swore when he got her back in his arms she was never going to leave them again. Kordon forced his voice to remain controlled when he answered Gracie’s call.
“I hear you, Gracie. We have a visual on the mother ship.” Kordon said around the lump in his throat.
Gracie closed her eyes as Kordon’s deep voice washed over her - calming her. “I have uploaded the viruses and have already noticed several of their systems are beginning to shut down. We are going to work our way down to the level containing the supply ships. I set up the same repeating signal so you will know it is us. I’ve also set the mother ship for self-destruct. Be prepared to get out of here fast because when it goes there is going to be some major fireworks.” Gracie paused to draw in a deep breath before continuing. “I love you, Kordon. I want to come home to you.”
Kordon’s jaw clenched tightly at her softly spoken words. “Bran and Cooraan were able to modify our own weapons and shields based on the information you had on your computer. We will begin firing to draw attention away from you and the other women. Get out of there safely, Gracie. A group of our fighters will intercept you and cover the supply ship until you are safely aboard the Conqueror. We will begin firing on your mark.” Kordon paused. “And Gracie, we are going to talk about this when it is over.” Kordon added tightly. “I’m going to whip your ass for this little stunt.”
Gracie giggled at Kordon’s veiled threat. She knew deep down he would never hurt her or that he was really mad at her. “Promises…promises.”
“I love you, Gracie.” Kordon said softly. “Get out of there safely and come to me.”
Gracie finished uploading the last of her false leads. She was flooding the Alluthan’s computer system with false programming to make it more difficult to find where her viruses were. She bit her lip worried that they would be able to stop them. Gracie set the supply ship she chose for standby. It would activate only on her command.
Gracie started when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Mohan dressed in one of the Alluthan suits Mouse and Beyra stole. “We are ready. I will lead the first team out.”
Gracie nodded. “I’ll go with the last one. I set up the map to show in everyone’s helmet. If you get stopped whatever is being said will transfer to my helmet and I will respond. I thought it would be best since I understand their language.”
Mohan reached around Gracie and hugged her tightly for just a moment before pulling back. “Let us go home.” Mohan said looking deeply into Gracie’s eyes. She must have felt content with what she saw because she pulled her helmet on and moved to the doors of the detention cells.
Gracie watched as her friend walked out with the first group of four women. Kacie nodded once to Gracie before following with her group. Two minutes later, Mouse and Beyra flashed a mischievous grin to Gracie and left. Now, there was only Gracie and the other three women.
Ladara looked at Gracie. “It is time.” She said quietly.
So far, none of the small groups had been stopped. Gracie nodded and looked one more time at the programs she had running on the small portable tablet. So far, so good, Gracie thought with a sigh of relief. Gracie was about to slip her helmet on when the doors to the detention cell slid open. Two Alluthans were entering. They stopped for a moment looking back and forth between the three women dress as Alluthans and Gracie who was standing there in a uniform but no helmet.
Ladara raised her arm and fired on them. Both dropped as a huge hole appeared in their chests. She walked up to both of them again and fired into their helmets at close range. Turning, Ladara looked with concern at Gracie.
“I don’t know if they were able to send out anything.” Ladara whispered as she pulled her helmet off.
Gracie turned to the portable tablet and grimaced. A signal was sent. She looked up at Ladara. She would be damned if she got this far only to be stopped. The signal was sent but not complete. They would have to move quickly.
“Move now. Walk slowly.” Gracie said pulling her helmet on and sending out a warning to the others before she sent the command for Kordon to begin firing. They would need all the distractions they could get.
Ladara and the other two women quickly moved out of the detention cell with Gracie right behind them. Gracie sent a message to Ladara warning her that a group of Alluthans were approaching.
Let me do the communicating. If it gets hairy, g
et out fast. I’ll cover you. Gracie sent the message across the screen in Ladara’s helmet.
We all go home. You said that. We are not afraid to fight or die. Ladara returned firmly letting Gracie know they would not abandon her.
Gracie blinked back tears. She would never be alone again, she realized. Gracie was about to answer when she saw a flash of communication across her helmet. Four Alluthans approached the small group. Gracie moved forward so she was in front. Each of the women behind her moved slightly to one side so they were spread out enough to fire without hitting Gracie but still looked like they were part of a group with her leading them.
233-9095 maintain position for incoming orders. One of the Alluthans approaching them flashed as it stepped forward.