Ghost Fleet

by Isaac Stone

  “I think she’ll be alright,” Captain told me as she took her hands off the small woman’s back. “It's a shame everyone can’t respond to this kind of treatment. I hope more will.”

  “Would make our job a lot easier,” I agreed with her. I felt the rise and fall of Precious’ breasts on my side.

  “Maybe someday things will be different,” Captain spoke, as she leaned back on a cushion. “I picked my crew with great care. I’ve learned to recognize the personality type who’ll be an asset as opposed to the ones who want constant sex. It’s how I knew Precious would ultimately fit into the pack.” She took one of my hands, put it to her lips, and then laid it on Precious’ back. “She'll sleep all night and be fine in the morning.”

  “I didn't think there were any problems with her,” I pointed out. Then I had another thought and looked down at her face. I’d seen some terrifying things in that face.

  “She'd be fine for a while,” Captain spoke between sips from a glass. “And then it would start. The jealousy, the hurt, the anger. We’ve built a shield around her pain, but it would come back and turn her into the raging beast we saw before. Correction, what you saw before. I was only along for the ride. As tonight, I was there to help. Although I do admit, those climaxes of her were powerful. Unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. But they give us something to work with. She’s learned to associate sex with pleasure and not punishment.”

  “So how do you think it will help you with the rest of the crew?” I asked her. “I can't be on hand all the time to help you mind probe. I don’t think you have the ability to go as deep as I can.” At which point I realized a boundary was crossed.

  Captain looked at me and I felt the sheer weight of her psychic force bearing down on me. “Corwin,” she spoke to me as the unseen fingers tightened and let me know she was still captain of the Hard Rain. “You are still my sweet little young man who, at the appropriate age, I was able to teach so much. It’s one of the reasons I’ve put myself back in rotation. I miss sleeping with you men. But I want you to remember who runs this ship.”

  The fingers loosened. “As for your question, I’ll apply what I learned during the probe to the women who have issues sharing a man on the same night. This was the root of her problems with the other men. She favors you the most because of the bond that happened during the deep probe you did a while back. You saw her totally naked and exposed. And, since you didn’t immediately try to kill or rape her, she’s in love with your more than any other man on the ship. Now, I’ve discovered it didn’t have to do with sharing you with the other women that caused her to disappoint so many assignments; it was the fact that she didn’t like sharing a man with any other woman the same night. Surprise, surprise, most women don’t like to sleep with a man and watch him make love to another woman. It’s not part of the standard training on the Hard Rain, because it doesn’t happen under normal circumstances. But we’re all subjected to it because of our current condition. So, I must bring several other women up here over the course of the next week and try to work out their issues with sharing. From what I’ve learned, it might go smoother with the next three women I’m bringing here. I’d bring you back each time, but that would cause more problems than it would solve.”

  I slept that night, but the dreams I had were horrible. Burning cities, people slaughtered in front of their houses. Blood filled the landscape and the sun was dark.

  “I'm glad everything worked out better with you and Precious,” I told Tran later as we prepped the FAS. “She’s special to me out of all the women on this ship. I don’t try to form attachments. Those seem to have ended too quickly.”

  I thought about Brittani, the mother of my son Kyle. Dead when a mercenary starfighter crashed into the side of the Hard Rain during a recent engagement. She was sucked out into the void of space with Latasha, another one of my packmates. It was a threat we lived with all the time. At any moment any one of us could be killed in the line of duty. It had happened plenty of times since I pledged into the pack, I was certain it would happen plenty of times again.

  As my mind tried to bring Britani’s face back, the klaxon began to sound. Hostiles were in range.

  “Alert!" The voice of Jalilah boomed over the audio. “Incoming enemy ship detected! FAS 1, prepare for immediate launch. FAS two make ready.”

  Both crews sealed their helmets. In minutes, we were back inside our FAS, and ready for launch. It only took me a few more minutes to get up into my command tower and prepare my screens.

  Captain’s disembodied head floated in the tower as I powered everything up. If she felt it necessary to transmit her holographic image to me, this was serious.

  “One of the ghost ships is headed our way,” Captain explained. “There’s a corvette from the navy coming up into position, so maybe we’ll have some help for a change. Engage, but do not destroy, if it can be avoided. Do you follow?”

  “We're on it, Captain,” I told her. “I see the icon of this ghost ship on the forward screen. There, I see the icon of the navy ship as well. Launch now?” I could tell everyone in my crew was ready from the inside helmet screens.

  “You can launch yesterday,” she confirmed. It was all I need to hear. The hanger doors were already rolling back. I could see the stars shine through the openings.

  “All clear,” the voice of Jalilah spoke to me. Captain’s floating head disappeared.

  “You hear that?” I asked Orlando. As pilot, he was the one who would send us into action. Tran, our gunner stood ready, with Medoro in the rear in his position as loader.

  “All clear," Orlando replied. “You want me to get us out of here?”

  “Right now!"

  I felt the harness hold me up against the back of the tower as the FAS was hurled into the void of space. My rear screens showed the Hard Rain disappear in the distance. Ahead of us lay the unknown ghost ship. We’d find out quick how deadly it was against an opponent ready for it.

  “FAS ships," a new voice called out in my ear. “This is Captain Arn, United Democracies Navy. We are here to assist in the challenge. As Senior Commander, I will give the orders.”

  I turned and looked at another screen. There it was the familiar form of a Navy assault ship. Launched from the corvette in the rear. However, the Order clans and packs only took instructions from their own Marshals or the Secretary General of the UDF. Since the first days, this was the arrangement we followed. I could see my crew grin at his comments. However, I was too experienced to piss off a marine officer. The last thing we needed was infighting when a completely new threat loomed before us.

  Five seconds later we spotted a weapons array on the ghost ship as it began to swing in our direction. I couldn’t get a clear fix on what it held, but at this distance I betted on a laser of some kind or a particle beam. I wasn’t about to second guess this ship since we had no idea on what it could do.

  “I've got a fix on some kind of weapon system on that thing,” I sent back to the marine captain. “I'm going to hit it before it has a chance to use it.”

  “I do not-" the captain started to say the moment I shut off his feed.

  “Tran," I told my gunner. “What's your best tool for the job?”

  “Laser," he returned. “And you better let me use it on it before one gets used on us.”

  “Light it up" I ordered.

  “Done," he confirmed.

  I watched the power surge on our weapons systems for a few seconds as Trans sent a beam of coherent light at the ghost ship. The AI that controlled our cybernetics announced a direct hit. It took a few seconds more for a damage report.

  “Hostile’s system is inoperable,” the AI announced to us. “Recommend another shot into its life support units.”

  “I'll take it under consideration,” I replied and opened the line again to the marines.

  “Bullseye," I informed the captain, "One punch and they no longer have any long-range capabilities.”

  “You fired without authorization!” I h
eard him fume. “That could provoked them too soon.”

  “Not likely to happen now that they’ve lost they’re laser and particle beams,” I sent back. “I suggest we board it.”

  His attitude changed as if by magic. “I don’t see any way in. Is there a place we can cut our way into it?”

  “Looks to be several docking ports on the outside. My AI found at least four. Two are so close enough together we can take them at the same time. I’ll even let you go first.”

  “I'll take my men in right away,” he responded. “Once I’m on board, we can check out the internal atmosphere and whether or not there are any hidden traps. We’ll be ready in two minutes.”

  I watched his small assault vehicle make for the larger ghost ship with speed. We kept watch for any signs of cannon fire or projectiles, but the ship was quiet. I couldn’t even find mental activity inside it. The thing floated there in the emptiness of space, its translucent body showing little activity.

  “We're inside,” came the voice a few minutes after the marines docked. “No pathogens, so we can open the visors. Atmosphere and gravity control appear to be Terrain standard. I see the second dock in this large room, so go ahead and use it. Appears we’re in a storage facility.” He swung his body camera around to give us a better view.

  “Any signs of life?" I asked him. There was none on the camera images.

  “No, but they could be hiding.”

  I had Orlando dock our FAS with the second portal station. We were already armored up and ready to go. All I did was pick up a small buckler shield and strap on a sword when I reached the bottom of my command tower. The others did the same, although Medoro favored a halberd. Humanity learned a long time ago that projectile battles in space ships tended to kill both attacker and defender. People were forced to relearn the art of edged weapons.

  Once inside, we quickly found the marine squad and joined up with them. As the camera showed, this was a large, empty storage chamber. It was clean, and I wondered if it had ever been used at all. I could see no signs of crates or containers.

  “No signs of any activity?” I asked Captain Arn.

  “None, we need to check this ship out.” The combined groups began to move slowly. We took the first corridor we found.

  Standing in the corridors of the ghost ship, I could feel the alien presence creep into my mind. I stopped it as the thing probed around in the inner recesses of my mind. I could feel the energy of it as the sinister force tried to find things that I didn’t want it to know. It fixed on my memories of Britani, the mother of my son. I pushed it away.

  I couldn't tell what it was, but the thing wouldn’t take ignorance for an answer. It moved around the shield wall in my head and tried to find a way through the deep ranks. I sent mental spears of counter attack back toward it. I unleashed a few skirmishes from my inner mind to it to find out what was on the other side.

  But it resisted. Whatever was there had more power than I could muster to oppose it. I stood in the hall and tried to block. After a while, I felt the thing go away, but it would be back.

  “Boss, you alright?” Orlando asked me over the audio. He stood before me with the rest of the crew and stared in my direction.

  “Fine," I told him. “I’m fine. It’ll be nice once we get our helmets off and don’t have to fumble around.” No one liked wearing those helmets, but we couldn’t risk a rapid decompression inside this ship. It didn’t matter or not that we couldn’t find anyone inside it. All it took was one explosion and the lot of use would have the air sucked from our lungs.

  I felt the handle of my sword in one hand and the shield in the other. They reminded me this was combat, and we risked death at any second. I felt my decision-making abilities were good, but it only took one mistake to take out the entire crew. I shuddered on the memory of Shelly and his FAS when the mercenary guided missile took it out of the sky. I’d never forget that horrible day.

  “Don’t worry about me,” I told the others. “Just had a bad thought. Let’s keep moving and link up with those Udie marines. I’m sure they’ll be ready to get out of his place too and back on dry land.”

  It was another thing I never understood. Every aspect of the UDF military was based around the navy. But the navy took all its terminology from terrestrial origins. Why where its assault troops known as “marines” when they seldom had a thing to do with water? It was one of the great mysteries of the universe I never could understand.

  As we made our way down the corridor, I thought about Captain and all the years she’d spent on the Hard Rain. When I first made my pledge, there were many members of the crew who’d accompanied her on the first tours of duty. They all spoke of her with a sense of awe. It struck me as a little bit odd at the time, but I learned to respect her myself as the years went by.

  I wondered who would replace her. Captain never talked about a line of succession. None of us did, as it seemed to show a lack of respect. But what would we have done had she perished when the mercenary starfighter collided with our ship?

  3

  We failed to find a single human being on the ghost ship.

  A few minutes after my episode with whatever tried to probe my mind, we re-encountered the UDF Marines who’d entered the ship the same time we did.

  “How much have you explored?” I asked Captain Arn as both units approached each other. I noted he had his visor up, so I gave the order to flip ours up as well. The atmosphere hadn’t shown any pathogens or noxious gas.

  “We've only been through the main corridors,” the marine officer told me, “but haven’t found any occupants so far. Everything seems to be running on automatic.”

  "Seems a little odd,” I replied back, “As this ship engaged us before we put it out of commission.”

  He looked around and focused his eyes on some writing on the wall. He starred at it for a long time then turned back to me. “Rogue AI maybe? You ever see anything like this?”

  I looked at it too. There are still countless regional and sub-regional languages in the known galaxy besides Galactic. I turned my helmet camera to the wall and fed the image into the FAS AI. I waited for an identification.

  “Unable to classify,” the AI told me over the audio. “Shows some signs of Ancient Phoenician, but that language was never translated.”

  I passed the information onto the marine officer. “Nothing in this ship makes sense. I’ve never encountered a similar design. Let’s head this way and see if there’s any bridge.” I followed him with my crew, blades ready in case we encountered any opponents.

  A few minutes later, we emerged into a large dome-shaped room with rows of instruments mounted into the walls. The same writing the AI couldn’t identify decorated the walls. This appeared to be a master control room or bridge. It was hard to tell since the basic design wasn’t anything we’d ever encountered.

  The dome sides were lined with instrumentation that made no sense to me. I could see dials and lights that illuminated charts and various control systems. So far, no booby-traps either. We were inside the lair of the wolf, but, so far, nothing had pounced on us.

  I decided to check back with our ship. “This is Corwin,” I told the audio. “We’ve made contact with the marines again. Both of us are inside what appears to be a bridge.”

  “Any signs of hostiles?” I heard Talia’s voice on the audio this time.

  “Nothing,” I transmitted back. “So far, we haven’t located any occupant of this ship at all. Which is a bit odd, we took out an active weapons array before boarding.”

  “Captain wants to know if it could be run by an AI.”

  “It would have to be one far more sophisticated than any I’ve ever encountered before. I know the navy tried to use them before in warships, but they weren’t reliable enough to turn an entire ship over to them.”

  I didn’t add that the UDF was terrified of having an AI go rogue while it was still in command of a battleship. Should an AI develop self-awareness, it might turn the warship ag
ainst its builders.

  “I don't think there is an AI running things on this ship,” I pointed out to Arn. He’d heard our conversation. “It would be nice to think there was, as that would account for everything we’ve encountered so far. But I’m not feeling it.”

  “Feeling it?”

  “Hunches. I work a lot on hunches. Kinda hard to qualify or quantify them. It’s saved my butt many times.”

  The marine officer nodded. I could tell he understood and didn’t need me to put it all into words. There were some things anyone who’d survived combat would know and yet be unable to explain in words. I’d noted the look on his face the moment we met. Arn was a seasoned warfighter.

  I didn’t want to tell him about how I could sense what a person thought. I couldn’t see everything, but enough to anticipate a hostile move or dangerous apprehension. The crew from my FAS understood and also knew not to talk about it. When I was tested by the men from the UDF Navy Goat Squad, they couldn’t explain my high rating either. I suspected the Goats were monitoring this engagement. They’d watched every other one I’d been involved in since they found out my high paranormality rating. Tank tested high as well, but nowhere near my level.

  I watched as the officer turned and faced away from me. He talked in a low voice to someone on the other end of his helmet audio. I could feel that someone in his corvette had information he needed to share. I didn’t know what he had to say, but was certain we’d all learn soon enough.

  He turned back to me a few minutes later. “My people say that this ship isn’t even on the register,” he informed me. “Whoever built the thing didn’t even get it listed. The engineering team doesn’t even understand the design. They’re talking about sending a team over to examine it.”

  “Which might not be a good idea,” I pointed out.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Whoever controls this ship doesn’t seem to mind us exploring it. I don’t think this is a trap. They have something else in mind. Sending over another team will let them know our side intends on examining this ship and finding out how it functions. Do that and they’ll blow the ship up rather than let us find out any more about it.”