“She has astro-mantis eggs in the jar,” Pandora revealed. “She pulled them from a dead creature while she was fighting on the ground. She carried them aboard in her side wound. If she inadvertently opens the jar…”
“You’re fuckin’ kiddin’ me!” Kendrick spat. “Jax was right – she wasn’t interested in helping; Xayasith just had another angle to play.”
“It appears that she intended to open it in retaliation for my uplifting her,” Pandora noted. “However, her brain was reconstructed before she could do so.”
Lucky for us,” Kendrick observed. “If those things hatched, small as they are, they’d infest the ship. We’d never get them all.”
Fiona nodded and slowly approached the mindless woman. They thought perhaps that the woman would react when she became aware of Fiona, particularly when the white-haired doctor took hold of the jar. Thankfully, the former NessCorp scientist simply released the jar. She looked at Fiona, then at Kendrick and Pandora with a blank expression.
“This is what I would have been if Fiona hadn’t made that implant,” Kendrick reminded Pandora.
“We have to destroy these,” Fiona said, placing the jar on one of the benches.
“No question.” Kendrick pointed to Xayasith’s mindless husk. “But what do we do with her?”
“She is mindless,” Fiona noted, “but not brainless.”
Kendrick shook his head in amazement. “Those nanites rebuilt her that fast?”
“Fiona was uplifted slowly,” Pandora explained. “She needed to live her life and an instantaneous change in appearance would have been problematic. Also, the process was untested. These nanites are programmed to complete the process in one hour’s time.”
“It hurts, by the way,” Kendrick remarked.
“I had not foreseen that the transformation would result in a lobotomized person,” Pandora continued. “Xayasith theorized that the uplifted subject would be as a new android – devoid of specific personality, but capable of functioning, and eventually developing a personality.”
“Without a consciousness to place within,” Fiona noted, “only the most basic autonomic functions are present. Higher functions require conscious thought. Thankfully, we are in a position to fulfill that requirement.”
“How so?” Pandora asked.
“Like this.” Fiona went to Xayasith’s husk and placed her hands on the mindless woman’s shoulders and closed her eyes. “This will take some time.”
Kendrick nodded, knowing what Fiona was planning. He looked at Pandora and motioned for her to join him.
“Come with me, Pandora – let’s get G-1 and start offloading the crew to the outpost so we can prepare for takeoff. By the time we’re finished, Fiona will be done.”
It took several hours between Kendrick, Pandora and G-1 to offload the crew. The process was extremely time consuming; each person had to be brought from stasis but kept unconscious so that they could be transferred to the pods in the outpost and placed back into stasis without them knowing that they were being moved. Kendrick thought that moving the clone Legionnaires and Jax would be difficult due to their size, but he learned right away that he now had greater strength than a G.A.I.S.F. Physically carrying the crew prove to be an easy but methodical task.
“There,” Kendrick said as they placed the last one – Captain Giffords – into her stasis pod in the outpost. “That’s the last of them.”
He looked at Carol and smiled. “You were a good friend, even if you did botch things up at the end. I’m gonna miss you, kiddo.” He leaned down and kissed Carol’s forehead. “Good bye, and God speed, Captain Giffords.” Kendrick stood at attention and saluted, a final courtesy to his former commanding officer.
With that, Pandora activated the stasis sequence and all of the officers, crew, and the science team were soon in stasis, awaiting the second wave that would land in a year. Kendrick lowered his hand and took a long look at the pods. They had killed all of the mantids, ensuring that the outpost would be safe for the second wave team. Now, they could leave, secure in the knowledge that the mission could continue without them.
He then turned to G-1. “You’ve been great. I’m gonna miss you too.”
The medical gynoid nodded. “I will miss you and your wife as well, Captain Royce. I will remain in hibernation until I receive the signal from the second wave ship, at which point I will awaken Doctors Biggs and Pallone. I will then aid them in reviving the officers, crew and the science team.”
“Thank you, G-1.” Kendrick kissed her cheek. “I hope they appreciate you; you’ve been a blessing.”
“Your wife has made my time aboard the Selene most equitable, Captain Royce,” the gynoid said. “I will recall my time with her during periods of diminished positive feedback. May your voyage be safe, Captain.”
With that, G-1 took her seat and entered hibernation mode.
“We should leave, Captain Royce,” Pandora informed.
“Not yet. Still gotta take care of this.” He held up Xayasith’s container, filled the astro-mantis eggs. “Come with me – I have an idea.”
They went to the outpost kitchen and he removed the eggs – six in all – from the container, placing them into a plastic food container, and then placed the container’s plastic lid on top, sealing it.
“Captain, that will not hold them should they hatch.”
“Don’t need to.” He placed the container into the microwave and set it for ten minutes on high before pressing start.
The eggs each began to wiggle, and then they bubbled and burst as the creatures within exploded. By the time the microwave made its telltale ding, the container held grey goo mixed with broken bits of the shells.
Using a pair of oven mitts, Kendrick removed the steaming container and placed it into the incinerator, vaporizing both the container and the contents within. The last vestige of the astro-mantis threat was gone.
“There,” Kendrick said with satisfaction. “Now, we can leave. Selene will blast the remains of the ones we fought with her masers, just in case the science team gets any bonehead ideas.”
“A wise decision, Captain Royce.”
Kendrick offered Pandora his arm. “Shall we?”
Pandora offered him a smile and looped her arm around his elbow. “We shall, Captain.”
They strode from the outpost for the last time, leaving humanity to carry on without them.
As Kendrick and Pandora transferred the officers, crew, and science team to the outpost, Fiona had taken the mindless husk of Doctor Xayasith to the bridge, seating her in what had been Kendrick’s chair during his time as the Selene’s helmsman. This would be her seat from now on. With what remained of Xayasith in place, Fiona had then addressed the Selene AI herself, who was still within her. The merged Fiona/Selene could fly the ship wirelessly, but that was not ideal. Selene needed to be her own person, her own being.
“Let us begin, Selene.”
She took the seat next to the mindless woman, the seat that had belonged to Commander Jax, reclined, closing her eyes, and began the upload of the Selene’s AI.
By the time the last human – Captain Giffords – had been taken to the outpost, Fiona had uploaded the AI back into the servers. The Selene’s holographic avatar appeared, projected from the floor tiles.
“Upload complete, Doctor Royce.”
Fiona smiled. “Welcome back, Selene. This is no longer a Starfleet vessel; this is you. Please, call me Fiona from now on.”
“Of course, Fiona,” the hologram replied. “I am ready to begin the second stage.”
“Your avatar awaits, Selene.”
With that, the AI began the process of inhabiting the mindless husk of Doctor Xayasith, installing the proper operating system, then downloading her consciousness. As the download proceeded, the body began to change. Her facial features altered, and her build changed ever so slightly. After roughly an hour, what had been Xayasith’s husk had transformed into the image of the Selene’s first physical avatar. The o
nly vestige of the NessCorp doctor was her waist long hair, though its hue had changed slightly, taking on auburn highlights.
Her eyes opened, sparkling and blue. She smiled and stood, walking to the holographic avatar and stepping into it. The hologram winked out, then she turned to Fiona.
“Hello, Fiona. The download is complete. You may address this avatar as Lena.”
Fiona hugged her tightly. “Welcome back, Lena. How I have missed you!”
Lena embraced the doctor. “And I you, Fiona.”
The bridge doors opened, and Pandora stepped onto the bridge, followed by Kendrick. Fiona was struck by how much Pandora resembled Lena, but with some African ancestry. Fashioned from the slain Miss Richardson, Fiona supposed that Pandora actually did have African ancestry.
Lena regarded Pandora for a moment, then smiled. “Welcome aboard, my sister.”
Pandora smiled back at Lena and nodded, making a slight bow. “Thank you for welcoming me, Lena. For my actions prior to being made whole, I am sorry.”
The Selene’s crew was now assembled, and they each took their seats. Kendrick took the captain’s chair, while Fiona took the first officer’s chair. Lena took the helm, and Pandora took what had been Darcy’s seat at communications. At long last, the voyage could at last begin.
“Lena,” Kendrick ordered, “blast the remains of the astro-mantises – I want to make sure no unhatched eggs remain before we depart.”
“Understood, my captain,” Lena replied.
Lena then ignited the Selene’s engines and the ship lifted from Ceres’ surface. The Selene’s masers lit up, incinerating the remains of the astro-mantis horde, insuring that no eggs survived to hatch later and attack the second wave team. Then, Lena Looked to Kendrick.
“Do we have a heading, my captain?”
“Proxima Centauri,” he replied. “We’ll land on Proxima-B. There, we make a new start.”
“This voyage will take millennia, my husband,” Fiona noted. “Many of our lifetimes.”
“Something like thirty-five thousand years,” Kendrick reminded her.
“I estimate that the nanotech can potentially keep us alive for that long,” Lena observed, “but we will be in stasis for the majority of the voyage. I also have determined that going into stasis will be better for you, Fiona, if you do so before delivering your child – it is early enough in your pregnancy, and the nanotech will ensure her wellbeing.”
“We can come out of stasis a week before we pass Jupiter,” Kendrick added. “Then, we go back into stasis, and come out a year before arrival; I’d like to at least enjoy some of the scenery.”
Pandora nodded in agreement.
“This is perfect,” Fiona declared. “We will make our own paradise, our own heaven.”
“Our own heaven?” Kendrick raised his left eyebrow at Fiona’s remark. “What of Heaven after we die? Do you no longer believe in that?”
“What happens to us after death will be our next great adventure, my love,” Fiona replied. “For now, let us revel in this adventure. Shall we begin our voyage at last?”
“We shall,” he replied. “Take us out, Lena – maximum mach.”
Fiona grinned. Kendrick sounded like Kendrick once again. He was Captain Royce, not a Starfleet Lieutenant. He was now like her. His youth had been restored, just as hers had been. The years taken from them by tragedy had been restored, and Fiona, her husband and Lena would at last be free of Starfleet. Pandora would be free of NessCorp and the Alliance. All was right… and finally as it should be.
“Maximum Mach in three… two… one,” Lena announced.
Then, the engines roared to life. The Selene accelerated like no other ship ever built, pinning her occupants to their seats as she effortlessly broke free of Ceres’ weak gravity. The Selene would soon leave the asteroid belt and eventually, the Sol system itself. They would now make a new beginning in the stars… where they belonged.
Epilogue
Carol awoke from stasis for the third time in less than a month. The experience was wearing on her; humans were not meant to be placed into stasis that many times in less than a year, and she could feel the effects. As her eyes adjusted, a medical technician who was not Fiona handed her a juice pack.
“Drink, Captain.”
Carol recognized the voice as that of a medical gynoid. After a few moments, she opened her eyes to the familiar sight of the MEDroid Fiona had named, “G-1.”
“I’m not dead,” she said matter-of-factly.
“No, Captain,” G-1 confirmed. “Lieutenant Royce was preserved. He and Doctor Kinsale-Royce merged with Pandora, forcing her from the Selene’s servers and into the avatar which Doctor Xayasith had constructed from the slain Miss Richardson. The Selene’s AI was then uploaded to the servers. Doctor Xayasith was rendered a mindless husk by the uplifting process – without the implant, the process does not result in a functioning being.”
This brought a smile to Carol’s face. “So, Xayasith finally got her comeuppance. Fiona didn’t hand us over to Pandora after all.”
“No, ma’am.”
Carol looked around, hoping to see Donavan, but she soon realized that they were not aboard the Selene. The clone legionnaires stood watch as Doctor Biggs and G-1 brought the crew one by one out of stasis.
“Jacob… what happened? Where… are we?”
“We’re in the outpost, ma’am,” Biggs replied. “We’ve been in stasis for a year.”
Carol stood, practically jumping from her stasis pod. “A year? I’ve lost a year? Why the hell are we not aboard the Selene?”
“The Selene is gone, the Royces with it.”
“Where did they go?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Are they coming back?”
“No, ma’am,” Biggs said with resignation. “
“So… they’re deserters.”
“Traitors if you ask me,” Biggs said with disapproval. “They left an O.S.D. for you, ma’am. Once you examine the contents, you can decide.”
Carol shot him a perturbed look. “I take it you already have?”
“You’re damn right I did! I woke up after a year in stasis only because the outpost received a transmission from an incoming Alliance vessel that signaled the MEDroids to activate and wake us up. I needed to know exactly what I was dealing with. As both the chief medical officer and only senior officer out of stasis, I was well within my rights.”
“Why? Why did they leave?”
“I’ll let you examine it and…”
“Never mind that,” Carol interjected. “Jax – where is Jax?”
Biggs grinned. “I brought him from stasis and into a coma. I was able to treat his wounds before bringing him out all the way. He’s recovering in the infirmary.”
“Oh, thank God!” With the knowledge that Donavan was alright, she returned to the topic of the Alliance ship. “Which Alliance vessel is coming?”
“Eos.”
Captain Giffords, a still recovering Commander Jax, Miss Reddy and Doctor Biggs sat at a rectangular table. At the head of the table, the translucent images of General Tracht and Admiral Bruce’s heads floated above a holo-projector. Tracht wore his usual poker face while Bruce scowled more deeply than Carol remembered. It seemed that the day of reckoning was here at last.
“Looks like you lost another ship,” Bruce said, not bothering with pleasantries. “Congratulations, Carol. You’ve lost more ships in your career than any other active captain.”
Carol held her tongue. There was no point in arguing with the man, especially given that she planned to resign her commission anyway.
“Enough, Admiral Bruce,” Tracht warned. “We’ve all read the reports, but we have… questions.”
“Questions we are prepared to answer, sir,” Carol replied calmly.
“So, let’s start at the beginning,” Bruce said. “The damn Zduhać tried to hijack the Selene with the aid of U.S. Starfleet Yeoman Zachary Lawson and two Starfleet nurses, Tygart and Grey.”
“That is a
ccurate, sir,” Carol confirmed.
“You also indicate that Lawson murdered the chief engineer, Shonda Richardson, and that the Zduhać murdered the nurses after they served their purpose.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“That’s a damn shame,” Bruce sighed. “That woman suffered and bled for this mission and for her country. I’d have liked to have seen those two bastards answer for their crimes.”
“At least there was poetic justice,” Carol noted. “The credit chips they received as payment blew up, decorating the room with … well … them. We have Lawson in stasis, along with the Zduhać scientists, though I expect Arkona will want them extradited.”
“No chance of that,” Tracht declared. “Arkona is no longer part of the Alliance. Their agents belong to us, and we’ll do as we damn well please with their sorry asses.”
“What is more disturbing is your mention that the Zduhać were keenly interested in Doctor Royce,” Bruce observed. “According to your report, Doctor Fiona Royce is no longer human.”
“I sent my report last year detailing the changes her nanotech has made in her,” Doctor Biggs interjected. “She is a human/AI hybrid, and is stronger and more durable than a G.A.I.S.F.”
“Unfortunately, your report never reached us,” Tracht noted. “Fiona probably intercepted it. All we have to go on is what Captain Giffords and Vanya Reddy had to say in theirs. The implications are… troubling to say the least.”
Carol nodded. That was the understatement of the century.
“You report that you encountered a hostile alien lifeform,” Bruce noted. “This Astro Mantis as Miss Reddy calls it is a greater threat to our species than the androids and whatever Doctor Royce has become. Did you neutralize them?”
“Every last one,” Carol confirmed. “It was only because of Fiona Royce that we were able to do so after the ship was sabotaged once more.”
The Silver Liner: Sails to the Edge! Page 20
