“You can’t possibly blame yourself for saving the Arcadian Confederate. Screw the fact that the Thalamos was destroyed in the process. That was a victory, one that saved all our lives. I won’t have you denigrate this achievement of yours. And speaking of victories so was your ascension to the seven-hundredth floor on Omicronia’s tower. And I don’t think wishing a different outcome now can help us in any way. What’s done is done.”
Ziron was right. Lamenting over things Kevin could have done differently was not helping, but ultimately, it was human nature through and through. Who in his or her life never wished they could rewrite parts of it? Especially the parts they considered their most abject failures.
“Alright. If we were to attempt the armor transference, could you equip Boomer with a basic neuronal interface? Something similar to what was used by the pill I swallowed back on Earth when I met that dying Arcadian? The one that allowed me to control the dead body a few galaxies away.”
“Yes, very easily in fact, but for what purpose?”
“If I’m going to be a Beagle going to rescue a princess, I need Boomer to remote pilot the fleet for me while I’m rescuing her. I can’t be in two places at once.”
Boomer’s ears raised up and he yawned.
“Did I hear my name?” he said.
“Kind of, come here.”
Boomer stretched, vigorously shook his head, catapulting drool filaments all over before coming to sit next to Kevin and Ziron.
“What did I miss?” he asked.
“We’re talking the possibility of transferring your smart nano-armor to me so I can infiltrate the Kregan ship as a quadruped, while you remote-pilot the fleet as a diversion” said Kevin.
Boomer blinked his eyes multiple times and then smiled. “I’m still sleeping, right? Because that didn’t make any sense.”
“No, I assure you, you’re awake.”
“Oh—You were being serious. While I have a pretty good inkling of what your life is and have watched you play many games and binged many movies with you, I don’t think you have done the same about me. What I mean is that I don’t think you know what the life of a dog, or any quadruped is like, at least not as much as you think you do.”
“I’ve seen you lick your balls at least a hundred times.”
“I rest my case, your honor. Seriously, in what universe will that info help you in the midst of battle?”
“Boomer is right,” commented Ziron.
“I know,” conceded Kevin. “But I still think this could work.”
“It’s your life, buddy, but maybe you should let me go get the princess and you remote kick the Kregan fleet’s ass from here.”
“Don’t think I haven’t considered that option. But we can’t do that, you may need human instinct and reflexes. Remember the stick incident?”
“Yeah, that was embarrassing. I get your point. However…”
Both Ziron and Kevin answered in concert: “However what?”
“Nah, it’s probably a stupid idea.”
“We won’t know until you tell us,” insisted Ziron.
“Well,” Boomer proposed, “if you’re gonna equip me with a neuronal link to fly the fleet in the first place, and that’s cool, you know, no pressure, I can deal with that, I think…”
“Boomer,” said Kevin impatiently.
“Right, sorry. Can’t you just link my consciousness to the armor so I could take care of the instincts part that’s needed as far as quadruped mobility? You know—Okay, I just heard what I said and it sounded dumber than I thought it would be, so never mind, that’s a stupid idea.”
“Actually, it’s not,” said Ziron. “If I could isolate just your natural-born instincts brain patterns, those you rely on for running, jumping, and the such, I think I could feed them to the smart armor’s AI and perhaps even sync some of it with your consciousness waves. At the very least, I could build a neuronal-net model of that knowledge that would allow Kevin to think what he wants to do, but the actual movements of each limb would derive from that simulated model. That could actually work. Good job, Boomer!”
Boomer slapped his ears with his paws. “Is the translator malfunctioning? I didn’t understand a single word you just said.”
Kevin smiled. “I think it works fine, and we finally have the building blocks of a solid plan.”
22
Everyone was on the bridge, minutes away from crunch time. Ziron had made last minute modifications to Boomer’s implant to access the speech part of his brain and have his implant replicate what the armor AI was doing so that they could still talk to him with words and for him to be able to answer back.
“What’s your status, Boomer?” asked Kevin.
“My status is that I think I’m gonna shit myself, how’s that? Seriously, are you insane to think I can pilot a fleet of ships just because I saw SciFi movies and watched you play Wing Commander?”
“Remember the techno-gibberish you didn’t understand about me getting quadruped instincts and all that?”
“Kind of, though truth be told, the more I think about it, the more I get the urge to chase my own tail.”
Kevin chuckled. Dogs will be dogs.
“Well, the bottom line is that the idea can work both ways,” reassured Kevin. “So you don’t actually need to know how it all works to the point of stressing yourself out. Zee created a neuronal model of my experience in these matters and gave me access to your neuronal link. So, just think of attacking a certain ship, or retreating, or boosting your ship’s defenses and your neuro-interface will feed Mira the necessary data she needs to use my own tactics to fight the ships, make power distribution changes, and the like. Or a close enough simulation anyway. Just think of what you need done in the simplest of terms and let the implant do the rest.”
“Wouldn’t it be simpler to just let her do that without me attached altogether?”
“AI’s lack instincts and that real-time flare that makes us alive. We have the fight or flight reactions, and we feel things on deeper levels than just brain power, and more importantly, we have instincts. It’s best if you do this.”
“Why can’t Ziron do it?”
“His instincts are a little too hardwired to running and hiding. No offense, Zee.”
“None taken,” shrugged Ziron.
“And, really, Boomer,” Kevin continued, “when someone tells the story of the boy who saved the universe, do you want the sidekick to be a cat or a dog?”
Boomer smiled. “You should have led with that. Count me in, I got this.”
Kevin shook his head, amused.
I can’t believe playing on his ego worked. I thought that was mostly a human thing.
“I wouldn’t mind if the sidekick is a cat,” said Ziron. “When you tell the story, I mean. I don’t actually want to take his place nor would I have time to reprogram the machine for me anyway.”
“Well, we’ll make sure you’re not forgotten in the tale,” said Kevin. “But let’s first survive it, shall we?”
“Typical cat attitude, take the easy way out,” snorted Boomer.
“Let’s not forget we’re alive thanks to him,” argued Kevin, “and you didn’t exactly fill us with confidence until Zee became part of the equation.”
Boomer didn’t answer but Kevin knew his words had the desired impact.
“Hyperspace exit imminent,” said Mira. “Exit in five. . .four. . .three. . .two. . .one.”
The Osiris and Orus battlegroup exited hyperspace only a few thousand kilometers from the Kregan fleet. The pirate ship escorts were the first ones to come about and vector toward them.
“Give them hell, Boomer.”
Boomer barked as his neuronal implant activated as did the successfully transferred armor on Kevin. He morphed into a Beagle and the sensation was bizarre to say the least. He took three steps and stumbled on the ground.
That’s not good!
“Zee,” he said, “it’s not working.”
“Give the system a momen
t to sync up, the armor’s AI needs to scan your brain activity and know how to sync efficiently with it.”
Patience under pressure, not my forte.
But sure enough, Kevin metaphorically picked himself up and could walk without a problem, it felt slightly weird during the first few steps, but the more he did it, the easier it got. Soon, he was running circles around the bridge. The feeling was exhilarating. The low vantage point made his speed all the more impressive and even addictive. He changed into a cheetah and took things to another level.
The agility, speed, and power he now possessed was generating so much dopamine inside his human mind that he felt like he had taken the best drug in the world. Speaking of drugs.
“Should you give me the stim cocktail now?” asked Kevin.
“You don’t exactly seem to be needing it, but I guess better safe than sorry.”
Kevin in cheetah form stopped by Ziron who injected the cocktail of drugs under his fur. Kevin had never used such substances before, except for energy drinks, so to say the experience was intense was an understatement.
Was it because it was the first time? Or was it amplified because he was a big cat? He didn’t know, nor did he care. He had never felt so alert, agile, and strong in his entire life.
With a single thought, he added armor to his feline body, and two auto-targeting turrets atop the shoulder armor pieces morphed into place.
“Locked, loaded, and ready to be beamed onto the enemy ship.”
Ziron nodded. “Good luck, Kevin.”
Kevin roared before being teleported away from the bridge of the Osiris.
* * *
Fire At Will was Boomer’s first thought. And his fleet simultaneously started firing at the enemy’s ship.
The thoughts swirling inside Boomer’s mind were indescribable and nothing he had experienced in his life as a dog. He was plugged into a holographic theater, ships maneuvering and firing at him and his fleet.
When the Osiris was hit and the ship trembled, Boomer felt slightly overwhelmed and questioned the utter madness of this plan. Fortunately, Mira was connected to his mind and was a prompt comfort when he needed it most.
Take a deep breath, Boomer. You’re doing fine, she said.
The mental thoughts would take a little longer to get used to. Boomer was accustomed to only having inner monologues of his own making, so hearing any other voice but his own, no matter how sweet it sounded, was strange and unnatural.
But there was a certain exhilaration and tremendous sense of accomplishment attached to what he was doing. He was, after all, the first dog to ever command an entire space fleet. Even though he had no doubt no other dogs would ever believe him in the poop park, the feeling of pride was real to him and that’s all that mattered.
I suggest you focus your attention on the pair of incoming ships and celebrate your victory once it actually becomes one, said Mira.
Kevin had told him how disturbing it was sometimes that Mira could read emotions and thoughts, and Boomer just got his first taste of that. Then again, with Kevin aboard the enemy ship, he was glad to have someone there.
Boomer looked at the pair of pirate ships coming for a new wave of attack and peered at them thinking, “boom.”
Simultaneously, both the Osiris and the rest of the battlegroup in range opened fire with high-powered lasers and plasma disruptors, and the Osiris even launched a volley of torpedoes. The result was devastating, and the first ship exploded with such force that the resulting shockwave diminished the second pirate ship’s shields and the last torpedo sent it straight to hell.
Wow—How cool was that? Dammit! Now I’m feeling like licking my balls again.
The moment the pair of pirate ships exploded, the other pirate ships took a more defensive stance, keeping their distance by retreating outside of the fleet’s firing range. Now that they were out of range, most of their firing salvos missed Boomer’s ships.
“Ah! Ah! They’re shitting their tails!” exclaimed Boomer.
But then a couple of minutes later, the Kregan destroyer changed vector and headed toward the fleet. It opened fire on the weakest of the old generation destroyers and it didn’t take very long to bring the first Arcadian battleship down.
“Oh crap, I may have spoken too soon.”
* * *
Xonax’s personal holo-screen burst to life and filled with the angry face of Captain Altanor.
“You said there would not be a fleet coming here! This is not what we agreed upon!”
“That’s unfortunate I agree, but my ship is more than capable of providing yours with cover. Don’t worry.”
“I’m already down two ships. So you’d better.”
“Do not mistake our alliance as one that resembles friendship. You knew there would be risks involved, I suggest you learn to deal with it. Fast.”
“You better compensate us for our losses.”
Right then and there Xonax questioned his wisdom in involving bands of pirates in the first place. They were volatile, and by definition, untrustworthy. But they were also mercenaries and so as long as they got paid, they would do their job. Something he couldn’t count on from other more civilized races.
“I’ll replace your puny ships, now stop wasting my time and make sure to keep the enemy fleet occupied.”
Altanor growled and spat toward his holo-camera before the image turned off.
“Up yours, too,” said Xonax as he returned his attention to the holographic war theater.
Sure, the arrival of a full-fledged fleet was not something he had anticipated, but even though the larger ships were numerous, their energy signature and shield’s power seemed weak compared to the Osiris.
Additional scans also confirmed that there were no life-signs on board the extra ships, which brought a satisfied smile to Xonax’s face.
They looked like relics from a time long gone. And Xonax had every intention to make sure to send them where they belonged, back to the dust of time.
He opened a comm’s to the ship’s bridge.
“Commander, target the fleet ships in the order I’m sending you. Focus fire on one ship at a time until they’re all but gone. Do not engage them individually. But make sure the Osiris’ shield never goes under fifty percent.”
“But, Master—”
“Do not think, do not argue, just execute my orders. Am I making myself clear?”
“Like crystal.”
The Kregan flagship adjusted its vector and started mowing down the old battleships.
23
Kevin was running along the corridors of the ship toward the cells. He had a holographic map overlaid in front of his vision inside his neuronal HUD. When red dots started flashing on the map, he knew he was about to encounter resistance.
Three Kregan warriors darted at him, and Kevin knew the time had come to see what a big cat with pulse cannons could do. The auto-targeting turrets mowed down two of the Kregan warriors before they even could aim at him.
The last one took his first shot at Kevin and it was a direct hit, but his personal shielding deflected the blast. The surprise on the Kregan’s face was all the distraction Kevin needed to make his move. He leapt forward, pushing on his back legs and literally flew in the air as he smashed the weapon out of the Kregan’s hands, leaving satisfying trails of cut skin in his wake.
What happened next was pure instinct, and Kevin didn’t think about it, he mostly witnessed it. His only thought was to finish off the enemy, which triggered the instinct in his borrowed big cat’s motor system.
The result was devastating, and before Kevin realized it, his cheetah’s fangs planted themselves into the Kregan’s neck, and Kevin saw surprise, despair, and terror in his eyes. The kill flooded his body with dopamine.
When the next wave engaged him, Kevin felt like amping his stature. While the agility and speed of the cheetah was intoxicating, he wanted to experience a rawer form of power, so he morphed into a massive white tiger and charged the next three enemi
es, who were a couple of corridors ahead.
What he had lost in speed, he made up for in pure strength, as he literally rammed the first Kregan warrior into the wall with such force that it catapulted the others nearby to the ground. As he impacted his head with the Kregan’s torso, he heard the warrior’s spine crack.
The second warrior managed to grab his gun and aim it at Kevin’s head. He had to act fast, and that’s when Kevin thought how cool it would be if his tail was similar to a morning star. With that single thought, he swung it toward the Kregan warrior and his mental image took form while the move was happening.
It resulted in the Kregan warrior being smashed against the wall, painting it in purple blood. Meanwhile, the auto-targeting pulse cannon put more holes in the last assailant than there were holes in a colander.
When his holo-map showed an entire platoon heading his way, it was time to change tactics. Kevin couldn’t afford to waste too much of his armor’s power, and there was no way he would repeat the mistake he made on Omicron. No matter how good it felt to take down enemies in big cat form.
Kevin morphed back into his Beagle resting form and hid under one of the dead warrior’s carcasses and thought about projecting an image of himself to the other side of the corridor. The multiple warriors avoided stepping on the downed bodies, and when they saw Kevin’s hologram, they opened fire. Kevin made the hologram run away and the warriors went in pursuit.
Once they were far enough, he retook the cheetah form and ran toward the cells as fast as possible.
Across the Galactic Pond - Box Set: The Complete FAR BEYOND Space Opera Series Page 19