by Isaac Hooke
More dots appeared from the Mimic fleet. “I’m launching similar probes. That jammer won’t hide for long, wherever it is.”
“Unless they’ve equipped their jammers with cloaking technology, like you Mimics,” Davis said.
“They can’t,” Hephaestus said. “We’ve never shared our technology with other Link members. Upon joining, we were required to provide ship designs and blueprints, cultural data, and the like, but not the actual workings of any weapons or stealth tech. In fact, no member species are required to share weapons technology, which is why the ship types of the different members are so varied. The Link encourages competition among its races, hoping it will goad them into developing even more powerful tech. They’ve also made it illegal to steal weapons tech from other Link races. That said, giving tech away is allowed. A few races have done that to curry favor with the higher-standing members of the empire, but the Mimics have never done that. Also, the only real common tech among member species is inertialess drives, which the Link do share with every new race that joins up, if they don’t have it.”
“So your point is, unless the Vaernastian have developed cloaking technology from the ground up, or by illegally stealing it from the Mimics, they won’t be cloaked,” Jain said.
“Let’s hope so,” Jacobs said. “Because if they are, we’ll be here for a very, very long time.”
Jain glanced at his tactical display. His gaze drifted to the wreckages above the colony, and he switched to a camera feed view, focusing on the Link ships the Halvert Defense Force had shot down. There were a few vessels that seemed relatively intact.
“The Vaernastian are able to modulate the frequencies of their jammers to allow their own ships, and other Link members, to jump out…” Jain said.
“That’s correct,” Hephaestus said.
Jain nodded. “So it stands to reason that if we can repair one of the damaged ships above the Halvert colony, we could use it to jump out.”
“Assuming they haven’t already moved the lost ships over to the ‘not allowed to jump’ list,” Jacobs said. “And even if they haven’t, they probably will once we turn one of their units online.”
“But a bunch of us will have jumped out by then,” Jain said. “We could bring back reinforcements from Earth to help out with the search. Or protect Earth, if it’s under attack. Once we return, and eliminate the jammers, we can leave to help out the Banthar and Tyrnari… get them to rejoin the alliance. Then we can finally bring the battle to the Link.”
“Yes, well, whether or not we do any of the latter depends on Central Command,” Tanis said. “We already have the Mimics. That might be good enough in the eyes of CentCom.”
Jain smiled patiently.
It won’t be. If I get out of here, I plan to secure the two alliances first thing, regardless of what Central Command wants. And even if I can’t secure those alliances, at least I’ll be helping out Mind Refurbs in need.
“In any case, I think fixing one of their ships is worth a shot,” Tanis said. “Can you work on that?”
“I’ll get on it,” Jain said.
“In the meantime, I’ll let you all know as soon as I detect the jamming ship,” Tanis said.
15
Jain found a suitable repair candidate among the wreckages of the Link vessels. The craft was relatively intact, and it was a simple matter to dock with it and unleash his termites.
It was a Vaernastian Barbell class vessel. He had the blueprints in his Mimic database. The weapons were damaged, so he wouldn’t be able to repair those—they appeared as black boxes in his catalog. The reactor and engine impairments were fixable, however.
The termites found the bodies of dead Vaernastians crystallized aboard. Organics crewed the vessels, helping to maintain the craft, but they also had advanced AIs that ran most ship systems. Jain determined that the AI was all he needed to get the machine up and running, after the repairs were completed.
Sheila planned to boot the AI in “safe” mode so she could make some tweaks. She was already experimenting with a sandbox environment based on their tech, using all the information Jain had on it in his database. In truth, there wasn’t a lot, so it might take her a while to hack in once the machine was online. At least she knew all the necessary protocols that would be needed to interface, and that was a very good start. She didn’t need full control… but just enough to fire up the rift generator. She was also working on a way to bypass the AI entirely and fire up the rift drives directly, in case she couldn’t get access.
While he waited for the repairs to complete, Cranston sent him a private environment request. Jain accepted.
The virtual bridge fell away, and Jain found himself in the jungle, next to a cloudy pool of water fed by a waterfall. The music of exotic songbirds filled the air alongside the gushing of those falls. It was very calming.
Cranston was seated on a large rock next to the pool.
Jain walked over to the rock to join him. He crossed his arms and leaned against a tree. The moment he did that, a parrot with pure white plumage took flight, startling him.
“Interesting environment,” Jain said.
“Shh,” Cranston said. “I’ve almost got him.”
Cranston was leaning out over the water, holding what looked like a small blue agate. A beaver was in the pool in front of him, and it was slowly paddling toward him, its muzzle sniffing at the air.
Since when are beavers attracted to gems?
This was virtual reality, he reminded himself. Cranston probably lifted the beaver and the gem assets from some video game.
The beaver approached, and was just about to touch the gem with its muzzle, when two large jaws emerged from the murky depths and clamped down on the semiaquatic rodent. If Jain was startled before by the bird, he was really startled then.
He caught the reptilian shape of an alligator as those jaws descended with their prize.
“Damn, I hate jump scares in games,” Jain said. “That’s one of the first things I toggle off when I download a new VR experience. Not that I’ve played a game in a very long time.”
Cranston shut his eyes.
Jain frowned. “What’s wrong, Brother?”
Cranston opened his eyes, but didn’t look at Jain, and instead gazed into the murky depths of the pool. “I feel like that beaver, sometimes.”
Cranston didn’t elaborate.
Jain remained quiet. He thought it best if he just let his friend talk at his own pace.
“I come so close to rising up from the darkness,” Cranston finally said. “I can see the gem of freedom in sight. But then an alligator comes leaping from the pit and swallows me back down into the dark depths.”
Jain once again waited for Cranston to say more.
“I can still see her,” Cranston said. “Bambi. Lying aboard that alien ship. Half her android head blown away, because of me. I know I wasn’t in control. I know I had an alien virus operating inside me. I know she’s since been restored, revived from an old backup. But that still doesn’t lessen the memory, nor the guilt.”
Jain decided it was time to speak. “If it’s causing you so much distress, we could delete the memory…”
“No,” Cranston said. “I want the pain. Need it. As a reminder of the darkness that’s waiting just beyond sight, to snatch me up in its claws if I lower my guard. I’ve invested heavily in antiviral security since that day. Come up with my own custom programs. I’ve shared some of them with Sheila. She’s impressed, she tells me. Says I should look into sharing them with the rest of the team.”
“We’ll take them, certainly,” Jain said.
“Yeah, well, I’m not giving them up, not yet,” Cranston said. “Not for a few years. Not until I can be sure they’ll protect you against whatever the Link or whatever other aliens we encounter throw our way. Don’t want to give you a false sense of security.”
Jain nodded. “Do you still relive old battles in virtual reality? Battles from when you were still human?”
/> “Every night,” Cranston said.
“Maybe cut back on that,” Jain said.
Cranston finally looked at him. His eyes were red, moist. “Can’t. It’s the only way I know how to honor my friends. And it’s the only way I get to be with them again. I’ve added the Bambi incident to those battles I relive.”
Jain nodded slowly. “But by doing this, you’re trapping yourself in a living nightmare. Repeating these horrific scenarios that led to the deaths of our brothers and sisters, again and again. Never giving yourself a chance to heal.”
“Even if I stop, it won’t matter,” Cranston said. “You know this. Because of the way our minds work, every memory for us seems like it took place only yesterday. Time heals all wounds? That’s such bullshit. It never worked when I was human. And it certainly doesn’t work now that I’m a machine.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Jain told his friend. “You’re right, of course. Memories can become a torture for us. But they can be deleted. Maybe you should seriously consider doing that.”
“It’s my punishment,” Cranston said. “For letting my brother and sisters die. For killing Bambi. Replaying their deaths until the end of time, that’s the burden I’ve chosen to bear. Maybe it will spur me never to let my guard down again. To never let any of you die on my watch.”
“No one needs to punish themselves like this, Cranston,” Jain said. “You’re just making this life harder than it needs to be.”
“There’s no easy day, remember?” Cranston said.
“No,” Jain said. “But there can still be good days. You’re turning every good day into a bad one.”
“That’s my choice,” Cranston said.
“You obviously called me here as a shout for help,” Jain said. “And I can’t help you if you won’t let me. Give me access to your memories. I’ll delete the most painful ones.”
“Actually, no,” Cranston said. “I called you here because I have some ideas on how to reroute control of the Vaernastian drives to a custom interface. You see, I’ve been experimenting with their protocols too, in my spare time.”
“I’ll let Sheila know,” Jain said. “Maybe she can connect you to her sandbox, and you can research this together.”
“I’ve already sent over all my findings to her,” Cranston said. “I’d prefer working in my own sandbox.”
“All right, well, thanks for letting me know,” Jain said. “I wish there was something more I could do to help you.”
“You just did,” Cranston said.
Jain nodded, and then logged out.
Jain’s repairs of the Vaernastian Barbell ship finished four hours later, a little longer than he had expected, mostly because he had to custom program the termites to work with the alien technology, but he got it done.
Sheila took over after he brought the vessel online, and she used her custom skirmisher to board it and work on the AI core remotely. She booted the AI in safe mode. She worked at her highest time sense, but after half an hour she reported that she wasn’t going to be able to hack in. So she began implementing the workaround, which required using a custom-printed part to interface with the rift generator hardware directly. Cranston’s ideas apparently contributed a big portion to the design of that custom interface.
In another hour she was ready to try it.
“I think we can create the rift now,” Sheila said. “The biggest problem was getting it to work with custom destinations. But I think I’ve solved that. So the question is, where do we want to jump first?”
“Earth, I’d say,” he replied.
“You’re worried Earth is under attack?” she asked.
“Yes, very worried,” he said. “I’m sure the Paladins want to return there as well, and get fresh orders from their president.”
“Sounds like you’re not so keen to obey those orders,” she told him.
“Depending on what those orders are, not really,” he admitted.
“All right,” she said. “Get lined up then. I’m not sure how long the rift will stay open before the stealth vessel jams it.”
“Xander, open a line to Tanis,” Jain said.
“You have the vessel ready to test?” Tanis asked when his hologram appeared.
“Yes,” Jain said. “The Void Warriors are lining up in front of it to make the jump to Earth.”
“Good,” Tanis said. “That’s where I want to go first. But I’m going to have to ask that you let the Paladins jump before you.”
“No,” Jain said. “The Void Warriors fixed that ship. They get to be the first to jump out.”
“I’m in command of this fleet,” Tanis said. “I hate to pull rank, but…”
“Actually, you’re not in command of me or the Void Warriors,” Jain said. “Check the orders from your president, or Central Command. In them, it clearly states that we operate as independent entities. Similar to allies. And if you don’t back off on this, I’ll order you to the back of the line, and have the Mimics enter the rift after we do.”
Tanis stared at him for several moments, then finally shrugged. “As you wish. But you better go through fast, because we’re going to be breathing down your neck.”
He disconnected.
It didn’t take long for the fleet to queue behind the Vaernastian Barbell. Tanis hadn’t been kidding about breathing down their necks—the closest Paladin vessel was located about five hundred meters behind Gavin’s Hippogriff, which was at the rear of the Void Warrior line. The Paladins themselves were spaced a similar distance apart, forming a long line. The Mimics had queued after them, though they had left greater space between their vessels. Hephaestus had seemed a little insulted when Tanis told him the Mimics would go last, but the Mimic commander hadn’t contested the admiral.
“Sheila, open up the rift,” Jain ordered.
She activated the remote interface on the new device, and the rift opened. She launched a probe through the rift, and it returned a moment later.
“The rift is stable,” Sheila said. Her communication included an increase in time sense, which Jain accepted automatically, slowing external reality. “And the destination matches Earth system.”
“Is Earth under attack?” Jain asked.
“No,” she replied. “At least not as far as I can tell. It’s fairly quiet in the system. The remnants of Earth Defense Force 1 and Task Force 88 are all in orbit above the homeworld. The same number we left behind. So they haven’t seen any Link attackers, I’m guessing.”
“Unless it’s a trick of some kind,” Medeia said.
“All right, enter,” Jain told Sheila. She was at the front of the line. “Xander, take us in after her. Void Warriors, follow as quickly as you can, or those overeager Paladins will probably crash into you.”
He reverted his time sense to normal, and followed Sheila through the rift. The Void Warriors followed in turn. The Paladins began to follow, but as soon as the first was partway through, the rift collapsed, and the vessel tore apart.
“Shit,” Jain said. “That was quick.”
“Well, we always knew the Vaernastians would change their jamming frequencies once they realized what we were doing,” Sheila said.
“Yes, just not that fast,” Jain said. “Which tells me that the jamming ship isn’t that far away at all. In fact, I’m beginning to think they’re hiding somewhere on the colony world.”
“Should we send a probe back, let them know?” Mark asked.
“I’m sure they’ll figure it out,” Jain said.
“Send a probe back…” Sheila said, tapping her lips in thought. “You know, we could open a rift back to Halvert. And give the trapped fleet a way back.”
“We could,” Jain said. “If we could control where the rift appeared, that is. I mean, sure, I know the general area it will open, thanks to the precomputed calculations. But it still materializes randomly within that space, plus or minus a million kilometers in every direction. Once the trapped fleet reached the general area, I could keep opening a new
rift every two hours, and maybe I’d get lucky and create an endpoint close to them. But otherwise, I won’t be able to hold it open long enough for the fleet to pass through.”
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Sheila said. “We could be there for days.”
“Yes,” Jain said. “Or longer. It’ll be faster for them to hunt down the jammer. Especially now that they know it’s close.”
“There could actually be a jammer hidden in this system, too,” Gavin said. “So all this discussion about opening rifts could be moot.”
Suddenly worried, Jain fired his rift beams and was relieved when they worked. He deactivated it so that he wouldn’t waste the charge.
“I wish we knew how to modulate our rift beams,” Medeia said. “To work around those jammers.”
“Yeah, if we knew how the technology worked at a basic level, then we could,” Sheila agreed. “Unfortunately, this is one of those black box things. At least it is in Jain’s Mimic database.”
Jain studied the wreckage of the Paladin vessel as it drifted, spinning in space. “Xander, who was aboard that ship? Tell me that wasn’t the flagship.”
“It wasn’t,” Xander said. “It carried a subordinate Mind Refurb named William Wilson.”
“Poor Wilson,” Sheila said.
Jain took a deep breath. “Okay. Xander, send a message to Earth. Let him know the situation in Halvert. And tell him we’re going to be leaving for Banthar Prime pronto, seeing as Earth system is safe. Assuming he hasn’t heard from Eric.”
“What if the president wants us to do something else?” Gavin asked.
“We’re our own masters,” Jain said. “But depending on the urgency, I’ll consider it. Xander, send the message.”
“Done,” Xander said.
“I’ll give the president the courtesy of waiting for a response,” Jain said. “And then we’re leaving.”
Forty minutes later the response came.
“The president says that no reply has yet come from Eric,” Xander said.
“Eric said he’d be back in two days,” Medeia commented. “Guess that was an optimistic estimate.”
