Seas of the Red Star

by Andrew Gates

  “Oh, how I can’t wait to see that spaceship,” she said aloud.

  Yuri’s avatar nodded in agreement. We’ll be there soon enough, he said. Don’t worry. We’ll be back on that rocking chair, staring at the fields in no time.

  “How soon do you reckon? The Governor said it took him three weeks to make the trip,” Dave said. He calmly sat down and glanced out over the ocean.

  When the Governor made this trip, he plotted the course without the same data we have. We’re looking at the stars and tracking our course to the inch, Yuri explained. At this rate, we’ll reach his secret island in 12 more days.

  “So we’re halfway there,” Dave noted.

  Assuming the Governor’s map is accurate, yes, Yuri confirmed.

  Speaking of which, you might want to move the mainsail 2 degrees to the left, added Gloria. We’re drifting a bit.

  “How far is that?” Dave asked. He turned to face the mast.

  I’ll show you what to do on your HUD, she answered.

  Dave got up and moved the sail ever so slightly. Once it was in place, he sat back down.

  Ellen took another bite of tack and swallowed it as fast as she could, not wanting to taste it for any longer than she needed to.

  “Want some?” she asked, presenting a piece to Dave.

  “Sure,” he said. He accepted the biscuit and tossed it into his mouth. He took his time chewing. It seemed he did not share her disgust for tack.

  Ellen felt herself shiver. She crossed her arms across her chest.

  I can have nanotech stimulate the blood flow in your body, Yuri said. It will warm you up.

  “Yeah, smart thinking,” Ellen said.

  On it.

  “Hey look,” Dave said. He turned to the back of the boat and pointed out in the distance. “We’re officially in the dark zone.”

  Ellen spun around. Sure enough, Vexa Prime was nothing but a sliver now. It slowly lowered across the sky until it eventually faded from view entirely. There was something strangely eerie about seeing the light disappear like that, knowing it would not come back.

  Ellen adjusted her vision again, doing it herself this time rather than allowing Yuri to do it for her.

  “Wow, now there’s something you don’t see every day,” Dave said, turning back around.

  “What do you mean? We saw sunsets on Mateo all the time,” Ellen debated.

  “But this isn’t really a sunset,” Dave replied. “It’s more like we’re traveling to a place where the sun never shines. It’s kind of creepy if you think about it.”

  Ellen casually nodded and shrugged. She agreed with him there.

  “It’s definitely creepy. It makes sense that the Governor would hide his technology out here. Could you imagine the sea scorgers or the Navy sailors making this kind of trip?”

  “No way,” Dave said, shaking his head. “They wouldn’t be able to see a thing. Hell, I can hardly see a thing.”

  Don’t worry about the visibility. You guys are doing fine. We’re right on course, Yuri said.

  Ellen was glad to have the AIs along with them. Yuri and Gloria meticulously tracked their location by using the stars above as reference points. Their insight made this trip a whole lot easier, especially considering that the Governor’s map gave them very little to go on. It was hardly more than a series of scribbles with latitude and longitude lines drawn on top.

  Thank god even those lines were there or it would have been almost impossible to chart.

  What do you suppose the sea scorgers are up to right now? Gloria asked. Ellen welcomed this change in conversation.

  “Probably repairing their ships. You heard Captain Azzorro. It’s going to be awhile before they can sail again,” Ellen replied.

  “But once they do start sailing again, they’ll go back to plundering and stealing. The Governor is going to know we tricked him, that the whole Navy tricked him,” Dave said.

  “Yeah,” Ellen replied with a sigh, “and he’ll probably be pissed. If I were a Navy officer, I’d be looking for another job right about now.”

  “He’s not going to be happy with us either,” Dave added. “We were part of that. Aren’t you at all scared he’ll take it out on us?”

  “Then let’s hope the sea scorgers lay low.”

  Do you really think that’ll happen? Yuri asked. Laying low isn’t really their style.

  “Hopefully they have some sense.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Dave continued. “Part of me thinks we have not seen the last of Ryan Lorde.”

  Ellen let out a deep sigh. She did not want to admit it, but she felt the same thing.

  “Look, right now all I want to do is get home. Once we’re home, there are people who can protect us. We’ll be safer on our own turf,” Ellen said.

  “True.”

  “For now, there’s nothing we can do about the Governor. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride.” Ellen leaned back against the rim of the boat and stared up at the stars. There were so many of them poking through the clouds. “In the meantime, I’m going to get some rest,” Ellen continued. “You got a lot of sleep and I’m jealous.”

  “You going to sleep, Ellen?”

  “I’ll try. After all, it’s night.”

  “It’s always going to be night now.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Well, goodnight then, Ellen.”

  “Goodnight, Dave.”

  The Dark Island

  Earth Date (Revised Julian Calendar): 03.09.5673

  Location: Windborn, The Dark Side of Taspansa, Taspansa, The Governor’s Dominion

  24 days on the sea. 12 days of complete darkness.

  Ellen was growing restless. She had hardly been able to walk more than three steps in weeks. The Windborn was just too small. Dave and the AIs had been her only company since the voyage began. She longed for something new, something different, anything to break up the monotony.

  To make matters worse, the food was appalling. Just thinking about eating another piece of tack made Ellen gag. She would do anything for a nice batch of eggs, hell she would eat a raw onion if she had the chance.

  It was driving her insane.

  Don’t worry. We’re almost there, Yuri said, privately. He could clearly sense her worry.

  You keep saying that, Ellen replied. How long exactly? I need to know. I don’t think I can take this any longer. I might as well be in prison.

  As fate should have it, the answer to Ellen’s question presented itself then and there, as a dark silhouette obscured the light of the stars in the distance. Ellen adjusted her vision again, providing her with the best view of the object ahead. She sat up in awe and slapped Dave on the shoulder.

  “Wha… what is it?” he asked, groggily.

  “Dave, look,” she said, pointing forward. Her heart raced. A smile formed across her face. She felt like a giddy child again, ready to open gifts on Christmas.

  “What is it? I don’t see…” He paused, as if suddenly realizing what was there. “The island!” He jumped up to his feet, causing the boat to rock back and forth.

  “Easy there,” Ellen said.

  “Sorry.”

  The Governor’s secret island, Gloria noted. We finally made it! There was a tone of relief in her voice. Ellen wondered if the AI had grown sceptical that it even existed.

  We’re right on course, Yuri said. We should reach the island within the hour.

  “How soon specifically?” Ellen needed to know.

  Judging by our rate of speed, I’d say 43 minutes, 32 seconds to be exact.

  “Perfect.”

  Ellen could not endure another hour on this boat.

  The next 43 minutes felt like the slowest minutes of her life. The island was in sight, just there, barely out of reach. At times, Ellen felt compelled to jump overboard and swim the rest of the way. But in the end, common sense always won. She knew staying in the Windborn was still the fastest way to get there.

  At long last, the slow crawl to the
Dark Island was over. The boat stopped as its bottom rubbed against the shallow ocean floor. Ellen climbed overboard and dropped down in excitement. Water covered her boots and the lower part of her legs.

  Dave followed closely behind. He excitedly jumped up and down, splashing in the water like a child. He carried the box of food and supplies with him in his arms.

  “We did it!” Ellen shouted in excitement. She lifted her arms to the sky and smiled.

  “Oh, thank god!” added Dave. He ran up to the shore and tossed the box of supplies aside. He immediately fell face first onto the sand and started kissing the ground.

  “Human presence detected! Human presence detected!” A female voice suddenly echoed through the air. Ellen could not tell where the sound was coming from. She spun around, trying to find the source of the noise.

  Slowly, the island began to glow. Blue light faded in from subtle LED strips that ran along the perimeter of the Dark Island. Other lights flickered on from tall structures built on the land. Ellen had to adjust her eyes again to prevent going blind.

  Dave quickly stood up and took a few steps back, toward Ellen.

  “Uh… what is this?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Stay sharp.”

  A woman slowly approached from the shadows. She was of a similar height as Ellen and Dave. Her long brown hair dangled down past her shoulders, not unlike Ellen’s own hair. The woman wore a clean white suit jacket and a black skirt, both of which formed nicely to the curves of her slender body. She even wore heels. The woman would have looked professional were it not for the fact that she wore nothing beneath her jacket. Her cleavage was well exposed in the blazer, which barely covered her nipples.

  “Humans,” the woman said. She walked along the beach to greet them, holding out her right hand.

  With a closer view, Ellen realized that there was something odd about this woman. Her skin, though real looking enough, was too glossy to be real. Either this woman had undergone extensive mods or, more likely, was an AI.

  “Hello,” Ellen greeted, shaking her hand, “I am Corporal Ellen Milsen.” The woman’s palm was cold and metallic.

  “David Cutter,” Dave said, shaking her hand too. Ellen noticed him take a quick glance at the woman’s chest.

  “I am pleased to meet you both,” the woman said, breaking the handshake. “My name is Margery. I am the keeper of the Governor’s Dark Island. It is my job to make sure things continue to run smoothly here during the Governor’s absence.”

  “Must be a lonely job. I suppose you don’t get many visitors here,” Ellen commented.

  “The island is well hidden, to be sure. The only people who visit this island are people who already know where it is, though I cannot say I am lonely. To feel loneliness was not part of my programming.”

  She’s not human, nor is she an AI, Yuri supplied. She’s a program meant to look and act human.

  Creepy, Ellen replied. So she’s like a robot.

  I’ve heard of programs like this, but I’ve never seen one until now. Think of them as advanced servitors.

  Do you think the Governor built her himself?

  Probably. That would explain why she’s so… Yuri searched for the proper word.

  Fuckable? Ellen said, not holding back.

  Yeah, for lack of a better term.

  Damn, I don’t even want to think about that.

  “If the two of you are here, the Governor must have given you the coordinates to this place,” Margery said, bringing Ellen’s attention back to the conversation.

  “Uh… yes. He gave us a map and a boat,” Ellen answered.

  “Then you must have good reason to be here.”

  “The Governor made a deal with us,” Ellen explained. “We helped him with something. In return, he promised to give us one of his ships with FTLT capability. He gave us the codeword Taurus.”

  “Taurus, yes.” The robot smirked. “The Governor is a man of his word. If he has made you this promise, I shall see it through.” She motioned to a large building on the island. “Come, I shall take you to what you are owed.”

  Ellen glanced at Dave as he picked up the box of supplies. He stared back at her with a strange look on his face, as if he were waiting for confirmation to obey their robotic host.

  Do you trust her? Dave asked, privately.

  She’s a program. I don’t think she has anything devious planned for us. She simply follows her programming.

  What if she was programmed to do something devious?

  Then I guess we’ll find out, Ellen replied.

  Ellen followed Margery up the beach. Dave reluctantly followed closely behind. Even in heels, the robot moved quickly through the sand. Ellen found herself taking long strides just to keep up.

  “How come there is no ATG access here?” Ellen asked, surprised that she was still unable to connect.

  “There will be ATG access soon enough, once we enter the hangar,” Margery replied.

  Ellen let out a sigh of relief. She could not believe how long it had been since she had connected to the ATG.

  There were so many questions she needed answered. What happened to Blake and Orion? To her home on Mateo? To Vexa Corp? To Thrace? To Sol? She had missed 1,300 years of history. It was almost too much to take in. A lot could happen in that time, especially in the age of faster-than-light travel.

  Margery led them up a hill, to a thick rectangular building in what appeared to be the middle of the island. Once they reached the building, they stopped before a large door. Margery held her hand out to a palm-reader beside it. After a quick scan, the door slid open. Ellen and Dave walked inside, finally getting clear of the rain for the first time in weeks.

  This was the hangar, to be sure. It was unmistakable. Four ships were parked in an open room. The far side of the room featured an unmistakable shield door, not unlike the shield doors outfitted on large ships.

  “Take your pick,” Margery said, motioning to the parked vessels. “Each are FTLT capable and ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”

  Ellen nodded back to her and shook Margery’s hand.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “You are most welcome. I hope you do not mind if I stay to keep an eye on you as you depart. I would not wish to leave you two unattended in case you try to cause damage to any of our systems.”

  “I understand,” Ellen replied, “and don’t worry. We’re not here to trash the place.”

  Let’s not try anything funny. Don’t go poking around. Let’s just pick a ship and get going, Yuri advised.

  Don’t worry, I wasn’t thinking of doing anything stupid with the Governor’s busty guard dog breathing down our throat.

  Technically she’s not breathing.

  You know what I mean, Ellen replied as she studied the vast room before her.

  I’m connecting to the ATG, Yuri explained, changing the subject. It feels good to be back.

  I know what you mean. Just looking at a spaceship again makes me feel at home, Ellen replied.

  Accessing the Dark Island’s database now. Wow, you wouldn’t believe it. The Governor’s got a lot of data here.

  Anything about Blake and Orion?

  Looking… looking… I don’t know, Ellen. I’m not seeing anything. It looks like a lot of data was lost. I can’t even find records of Orion’s employment with Vexa Corp.

  Think it got lost in the war?

  It’s likely. War often means things get lost or destroyed. I’m sorry, Ellen. I know you wanted answers.

  Keep looking. In the meantime, anything you can find about current events?

  Tons. I don’t even know where to start.

  Ellen loaded up the data and scanned through it. Yuri was right. There was a lot to take in. It was almost overwhelming.

  Start with the Lightspeed Wars. See what you can find about that, Ellen ordered. This was a better task for an AI. Humans like Ellen tended to get distracted when dealing with vast amounts of data. AIs were far better focused when it c
ame to that sort of thing.

  There’s a lot here about the Lightspeed Wars. You’ll want to see it too.

  Downloading it now, Ellen said.

  Oh, this is interesting. Are you seeing this? Yuri asked.

  Seeing what? There’s a lot of stuff here. The database is massive.

  The Governor has an extensive amount of information here on some type of rejuv tech.

  How extensive?

  A lot more extensive than a person would normally have. I’m accessing the data now.

  Show me, Ellen said. She waited a few seconds before Yuri responded.

  That might be easier said than done, he finally said. The data is all encrypted. I can’t read it. Obviously this must be something the Governor does not want us to know about.

  Download what you can. We can try to decode it later. This intel could give us the secret to the Governor’s long life, Ellen suggested. But do it securely. I don’t want the Governor to know we’re poking around.

  Already on it. What do you take me for, a fool?

  Of course not.

  “Hey Ellen, which ship should we pick?” Dave asked, suddenly pulling Ellen’s attention back to the task at hand. She had been so distracted, she had almost forgotten what she was doing.

  Running a diagnostics report, Gloria said. She paused for a few seconds. The ships all appear to be in perfect condition. It looks like Margery has kept diligent care of them.

  “If they’re all the same, let’s just pick this one,” Dave said, pointing to the nearest ship.

  “Fine by me,” Ellen agreed. She turned back to face Margery. “Is this alright?”

  “If that is the ship you desire, you are more than welcome to take it,” she explained. Margery suddenly raised her left hand to them as her wrist transformed into the muzzle of a weapon.

  “Dave, duck!” Ellen shouted, jumping to the side as Margery fired a laser beam from her wrist.

  The blast missed them both, but Margery lined up another shot. Ellen quickly crawled behind a nearby crate.

  Are you okay, Dave? Ellen asked over artificial telepathy. She could not see him from her current vantage point.

  I’m fine. I found cover.

  Good. Stay there. I’ll draw her away from you.