by E M Garcia
I squinted and lowered my head as the bulbs slid to full power. "50% Cal. Go easy on me, Iz. I didn't sleep well."
Izzy narrowed her eyes as the lights dimmed to a tolerable level. She strode towards me. "Are you okay? You look like hell."
"Nothing a shower and hot tea won't fix," I said, sliding out of her reach. If I admitted how bad I felt, Izzy might cancel the brunch, but she would spend the rest of the morning hovering. As much as I loved my friend, I didn't want to talk about Mt. Victoria.
“Well, get on and make yourself presentable. They’ll be here soon.”
Halfway to the bathroom, Izzy’s words registered. I turned to stare at her in disbelief. “They?”
Before she could respond, my door chimed again. I blinked, looking from Izzy to it and back. “Tell me that's not what I think it is.”
I set the bag to the side and went to the door. J'Selle stood on the other side. Like Izzy, she was fully dressed, but with no special events on board the Cal, she skipped the make up and elaborate hair. She looked me up and down, no doubt noting my disheveled pajamas and bare feet, and raised an eyebrow. For a woman with no emotions, J’Selle could communicate disapproval loud and clear.
“I received a message demanding I report to the Commander’s cabin for a… crew breakfast?”
I glared at Izzy, my panic level rising. She wouldn’t seriously invite the entire crew to my cabin with ten minutes warning, would she? Izzy didn't even look in my direction. She kept her eyes down, busying herself with opening the bottles and pouring out the juice, wine, and sparkling cider.
“I’m sorry, J’Selle." I said. "It’s a tradition when we have guests on board. But they aren’t usually in my kitchen. If you aren’t in the mood, I understand.”
J’Selle raised an eyebrow “The ping said attendance was mandatory.”
I turned back to Izzy who shrugged again defensively and shove the stemless glasses in tonight. “After a few rejections, I got a desperate. I didn't order any when I couldn't officially.”
“Who said yes?” Suddenly, I was afraid Alix, or Gale, or Daq, would show up and get an eyeful of me in my pajamas.
“After Mac refused, he suggested I limit it to just to the ladies.” Isabel pushed a glass into my hands, taking my wrist and guiding it to my lips. "It's just us girls. That's why it makes the most sense to have it here. Sit, drink, relax. I'll cook."
I let out a relieved breath and plopped down into a chair at the table. It was hard to argue with Isabel Kimbal's entertaining methods.
J'Selle and I sat down at the table well Izzy busy at her self preparing a breakfast spread. In seconds, my cabin filled with the scent of flash-grilled sausages, citrus fruit, and toasted bread. It wasn't just the standard welcome brunch menu. It was the menu of every breakfast Izzy and I ever ate, and countless meals outside of the regulated hours. We had cobbled together the menu over our years working together, leaning on favorites from our childhoods.
“The crew of the Calypso is more excitable then I remember them being.” J’Selle said.
I shrugged, taking a sip my mocktail and hoping it drove away any vestiges of bad breath. “She's from a wealthy family. Entertaining is kind of her thing. She'll be a great ambassador yourself one day.”
“As if diplomacy comes down to who wines and dines best.”
“You'd be surprised. Anyway, I've been trying to talk to you for days. Why do you have your do not disturb sign on?”
“I’m a critical with my work. I'm this close to a breakthrough.”
“What work?”
“With RAE. I was so close to finding the safer for us language and it changed or maybe expanded. The last few days have given me more data than the last few years. I think he's...growing." She leaned toward me, tilting her chin down. "If we stick to the jump schedule, I might have just enough time to nail down the source."
A ball of anger in my stomach. I took another sip from my glass to extinguish it, but found it was resistant. J'Selle noted my silence. Izzy came to the table setting down at sitting down spread.
“I’ve done something wrong, “J’Selle said.
“You're supposed you're going to cloister, but you're still transmitting data to Aurora?”
“Of course not. That would take too many resources and the jumps would interfer with transmission." J'Selle shook her head and took a sip from her glass. "This is why I hate working in the field."
I stared at her, sorting through the conflicting thoughts in my mind. A sharp stab of an emotion I couldn't quite name hit my chest. There was something wrong about her statement, very wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"All done," Izzy said as she set the last dish on the table. When neither the Lady nor I moved, her voice filled with concern. "Is something wrong? Did I forget a dietary restriction?"
My stomach growled as the scent of garlic and sugar wafter to my nose, but I couldn't take my eyes away from J'Selle. "Jay...how are you researching an AI on Aurora without contacting the station?"
J'Selle froze, her expression unreadable. The air in the room seemed to thicken as we watched each other. She couldn't have done it. Not even the Lady was that crazy.
She released a breath and blinked, bowing out of our little staring contest. "It's only a copy. Nobody will notice."
I leaned back, too stunned to speak for a moment. "Fucking hell, Jay. Tell me you had authorization." When she didn't respond, my heart sank into my stomach. My crew and I were on a ship hurtling through space carrying five distinguished soldiers...and one stolen AI.
"Tam?" Izzy looked from J'Selle to me and back, her brow furrowed. "What's going on?"
"I'm sorry, Dr. Kimbal, we're going to have to raincheck breakfast. " Slipping my hands into my pockets, I peeled my eyes off J'Selle to look at Izzy. I tried to shift my face into a calm expression, but I was just too pissed. "Dr. Cage and I need to talk."
From the look in her eye, I could tell Izzy didn't trust me alone with J'Selle. She wanted to argue, but invoking my authority cut off that possibility. Isabel set her glass on the table and slid to her feet. I waited until the door swished shut to speak again, only to find that I was still to angry to trust my voice.
"It won't be traced back to you, Tameron," J'Selle said.
"That's not comforting." I slammed down the rest of my drink, letting the tart bubbly liquid sting my throat on the way down. The burn wasn't as good as alcohol, but it would have to do. "What the hell were you thinking, Jay?"
J'Selle watched me without speaking, her face an emotionless mask except for a slight tremble of her jaw. I was used to her emotional inhibitors, but their efficiency made my anger burn hotter. There was nothing as frustrating as arguing with an ice sculpture.
"Pack it up and send it back to Aurora, J'Selle," I said through gritted teeth. "Now."
"I can't."
"That wasn't a request, Dr. Cage."
She climbed to her feet. I did the same, but her Qu'ren physiology gave her the height advantage. The difference unnerved me, though I knew J'Selle wouldn't physically hurt me.
"Even if I wanted to, there's no way to transmit an AI over this distance." J'Selle tilted her chin up and gazed at me down the bridge of her nose. "If you wish to return RAE to Aurora, you will have to do so yourself, Ambassador."
"Damn it, J, don’t think I won’t.”
Before I could demand J’Selle explain herself, the deck shook beneath my feet. A deep rumble rolled through the Cal. It lasted for a few seconds before being replaced by the hum of the engines. Plasma fire; a direct hit.
“It’s not that I think you won’t, Tam,” she said. “You just won’t have the chance,”
12
Alarms blared, drowning out the gentle hum of the Cal’s engines. Fuck.There had been no mistake. We were under attack. A red light on the wall behind blinked behind J’Selle’s vacant face. I couldn’t tell if the attack had surprised her too or if she’d been expecting it. Until this morning, the latter possibility would have se
emed impossible. Now…I couldn’t afford to discount it.
“You’re needed on the bridge, Ambassador.” J’Selle dipped her head, letting her silver hair obscure her eyes.
I wanted to wrap my hands around her delicate neck and squeeze until the bones snapped, but I still loved her. She was the only family I had left, even if she had lost her mind. She was also a trained soldier with decades of experience protecting her fragile body from attack. Any fight I started with the Lady would end with me on the floor.
“Stay here.” I snapped as I ran for the door. “Cal, seal the door behind me and tell Commander Howard to report to the bridge.”
On the bridge, Mac turned frantically between the consoles. He craned his neck to look at me as I entered, then turned back to the half dozen screens bolted to the hull on either side of him.
“I know, Tam. I know!” The frustration in his voice bordered on panic. Mac Calhoun didn’t panic. He could be surly, mean, and sarcastic, but fear was a look I had never seen on him.
“Take it easy, Mac.” Stepping up behind him, I patted him gently on the shoulder. “Report.”
“Shields are at 85% and holding,” he said. “Whatever guns they have are ripping through them too fast. We’re not equipped to deal with this kind of shit anymore.”
“The hell we’re not. We’ve still got the best pilot in the galaxy at the helm.” The confidence in my voice didn’t match the knots in my stomach. My pilot needed to think I had absolute confidence in him to save us, and damn it that's what I was going to give him. In a few more hits, the guns would rip through our hull instead of our shields. “Keep taking evasive actions until the Hammer gets here.”
“That ain’t gonna be easy.” Mac smashed his fist down on a button next to him to silence another alarm. “I’m burning the engines like hell, but I don't know what the from."
I blinked. "The ship isn’t broadcasting a signal?"
"I mean there's no ship at all! All sensors are black. Cal can’t find any glimmers or waste heat.”
A stealth ship. There was no way in a hell an aging ship like the Cal could take on a new stealth cruiser. Our ship didn’t have the firepower. We needed Commander Price and the Hammer. A Federation Black ops ship could fight back or at least cover our escape. “Has Commander Price hailed us?”
“Still waitin’ on that, ma’am. Gotta say, with friends like him, I think I prefer our enemies. At least they make their presence felt.”
I had known Mac for eight years and never known him to bullshit when things were serious. Someone had fired on us without hail or warning. “Cal, did they hack us?”
"They have made several attempts," she said. "But they have been unable to overcome my counteroffensive programing."
“Mac, go dark. Cal, ping the Hammer again.” I leaned closer to the screens, peering into them as if sheer will would make either the Hammer or the rogue stealth ship appear. “If the Hammer's tech isn't advanced enough, they might not know we're in trouble."
The doors opened and Gale stormed on to the bridge. "Mac what the hell are you doing? Return fire!”
"He can't, Commander." I said, sliding to my feet. “The sensors are black."
Gale's jerked hIzzyad to the side, his eyes settling on me. He pulled his spine straight and clapped his arms against his sides. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't see you."
"Stealth drive is engaged, Tam." Mac said.
"When's the last time you kicked those on?" Gale's brow furrowed.
"Not recently enough for me to feel confident," I sighed. "Maintainence keeps them operational, but we've never had a retrofit. There's never been an operational need."
"Until now," Mac whispered.
"If it's a civilian ship, the stealth drives won't help," Gale said tightly. "Their regs don't forbid windows."
"I know that, Commander." I gritted my teeth and focused on the black screens. We couldn't fire on a ship we couldn't see. We couldn't out manuever it. The Hammer wasn't coming to our rescue. I needed this to work. Seconds crawled by as we waited to see whether the Cal's antiquated stealth drives were powerful enough hide from the rouge ship.
Another shudder rippled through the ship, this one more powerful than the last. I gripped the console for balance.
"Shields at 65%." Mac said. "Damn it!"
"Where the hell is the Hammer?” Gale snapped. His eyes darted between the sensor screens. "Our shields won't hold much longer."
"They're not responding.” I whispered, toying with the angel wing pendant around my neck.
Gale's fingers sank into the back of Mac’s chair. “So much for back up."
I balled my hands into fists. Price was supposed to be our back up. Where the hell was he when we needed him? Our shields and Mac’s skill wouldn’t hold out forever. When the plasma blasts finally ripped through our hull, what would they take out? The gravity generator? Life-support? The AI? Without Cal, we were trapped in a hydrocially sealed durasteel tube hurtling through space.“Get us out of this, and you can ask him yourself.”
Gale stared in visible shock. In hIzzysitation, the aftershock of a fourth The day before, I’d been sulking at having him on my command crew. Now, I was asking him to save us. If he hadn’t been so stunned, he might have enjoyed the irony.
"Commander...." I was prepared to yield to his superior combat experience. No matter how I felt about him, he was the best chance we had at survival. My pride would survive, my ship might not.
"Cal open a ship wide channel." Gale rolled his shoulder and jerked his neck from side to side. His voice slid from it’s usual smooth croon to the firm staccato of command. " "This is Commander Howard, all crew prepare for evasive manuevers. Mac...outfly these bastards."
"I'm tryin', Sir." Mac snapped. "It ain't workin'."
Gale nodded as his jaw worked. "We can't fire on these bastards and outrunning them isn’t working. Cal, can we hide somewhere without the stealth drives?”
Cal didn’t respond. I swallowed hard, only releasing a breath when she chirped. “There is a nebula 400 kilometers away. Preliminary scans suggest the composition would not be corrosive to the ship’s hull, but sensory range would be dampened by 85%”.
"For them and for us.” I said. “If they follow us in, we won’t be able to hail the Hammer for help.”
“Fuck Price,” Gale spat, anger flashing in his eyes. “But you’re right. Cal, that’s no good. What’s Plan B?”
“The nearest jump point is 900 kilometers away,” Cal chirped. “But it is not on our scheduled itinerary.”
"Head for that nebula, Mac. Our shields won't hold to that jump point.
“Everybody hold tight,” Mac said. “Cal’s ass is gonna be in their faces for a few minutes, and I’m betting it’ll be too juicy a target to pass up.”
Gale nodded, gripping the back of Mac's chair. “Cal, cut off everything non-essential and split the extra resources between the rear thrusters and the rear shields."
After a full minute with no impact, Gale released a breath. "That's it then. Mac, keep us on alert. If you get so much as a wiff of something off, you let the Ambassador and I know."
"You'll be the third and fourth," Mac said.
When Gale turned to me, he tried to fix the usual cocky grin onto his lips, but it faltered. "You can have your ship back, ma'am. I've had enough excitment for one pleasure cruise."
"I'm sorry, Commander. It's not over yet." That stealth ship didn't stumble upon us by accident. A random attack and a stolen AI on the same ship within minutes was too huge a coincidence to swallow. Damn it, J'Selle. "Cal, page Lieutenant Barnes, I need a security detail in my cabin. I'll meet you there shortly. Commander Howard, with me."
Gale followed me into the short corridor that separated my cabin from the bridge. "Tam? What don't I know?"
"Probably about as much as me."
The doors slid open. J'Selle sat at the table with her cocktail still in her hand. She glanced up at us as we entered, her expression as unyeilding as ever. Somehow, seei
ng her behave as if nothing had happened made the events of the last few minutes sting more.
"Anything you want to tell me, Jay?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice even. Gale's presence loomed behind me. What did the conversation look like from his eyes?
"I think I've spoken quite enough, thank you." She set her glass on the table and climbed to her feet, tilting her chin down to look me in the eye. "Are you sure this is what you want, Angel?"
I flinched. "What I wanted stopped mattering when the first blast hit us. Where is it?"
The doors slid open again. Heavy footsteps walked into the room and took a position on my left. Alix cleared his throat to announce himself. "You called, ma'am?"
"Where is it?" I asked again.
J'Selle's gaze shifted from my face to Gale and Alix. With them at my side, the odds were in my favor, but I hadn't thought to brief them before entering the room. It was a rookie mistake. I couldn't afford to make to many more if the Lady had become my enemy.
"In my cabin," she sighed.
I nodded and tried to pretend my heart wasn't breaking. Why would you do this J? I couldn't ask her. I couldn't barely hold it together long enough for what came next. "Lieutant Barnes, escort Dr. Cage to her quarters and confiscate her contraband AI. Then, place her under house arrest."
To his credit, Alix's bulging eyes were the only sign of his surprise. He clicked hIzzyels together and walked forward, taking a position behind J'Selle. She walked forward without a word. Her robes swayed around her, giving her an ethereal grace that was unnerving. My body didn't relax until she was gone. I looked to Gale and saw and expression on his face I seen only a handful of times before, shock.
"What the fuck, Tam?" The words left his mouth in a harsh whisper. "Do you know what the hell you're doing?"
"Trying to save my ship," I ran my hands over my scalp to keep the growing heaDaqhe at bay. It didn't help. "Gather the Wreckers in my office. I'll explain it all then."
13
