Caretakers (Stag Privateers Book 2)

by Nathan Jones

  Linus looked a bit worried, as if fearing this might get in the way of his people being freed from their current circumstances. “We couldn't even if we wished to, ah, Mister . . .”

  Right, he hadn't introduced himself. Nor did he intend to. “Captain's fine.”

  The man nodded dubiously. “It's simply not how companions work. They aren't programmed with the capability to betray their human at the behest of any outside source, even HAE itself. In fact, any attempts to subvert a companion that is judged potentially successful will result in the model shutting down until the threat has passed, or even destroying itself if necessary.” He smiled. “Not that anything in the universe is currently capable of subverting a companion. Our AIs protect themselves quite well.”

  “That include these Caretakers ERI's people told me about?” Aiden asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

  “Oh, ah . . .” Linus trailed off, and an uncomfortable silence settled.

  “At some point I'd like to talk to you about your experience with the adult companion,” Sarr finally said. Aiden would've thought she was just changing the subject, but her voice had become focused and thoughtful as she looked around, as if searching for a pad to write notes on. “We're still in the process of collecting beta tester feedback, and your acquisition of the model outside of any testing parameters may provide interesting-”

  “Hey guys?” Barix's voice boomed through the speakers in the room, making the scientists wince and cower. Even Aiden jumped slightly. “Just because we stomped this place's security measures flat doesn't mean you've got time to stand around chatting. Can we get out of here before something else goes wrong?”

  “Yeah sure,” Aiden said. “Need to do one thing real quick first. On my way to the control room.”

  “Okay good, because this place isn't going to loot itself,” the slight man said.

  Aiden turned back to the two scientists. They'd been joined by a few more brave souls, while the rest of the group tentatively poked their heads up out of their cubicles, confident the situation hadn't resolved into an immediate firefight like they'd feared. “Hold tight, I'll be back in a second,” he told them.

  Linus nodded dubiously. “Very well. Should we do anything until then?”

  Before Aiden could answer, Ali cleared her throat delicately. “Considering the time constraints, and the limited life support capabilities of our ship, I should track down some stasis pods for our guests. There must be some here, or our benefactor would've had to account for it.”

  “We did get shipped here in pods,” Sarr supplied helpfully.

  “Okay fine, get them packed in,” Aiden growled. “All except you and you.” He pointed to Linus and Sarr, wanting to ask them more questions once he had the time. “My ship's life support can potentially accommodate five more people, so draw straws for three others.”

  One of the other scientists, a tall, slightly overweight man with longer hair, wrung his hands nervously and cleared his throat. “I, um, hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I have reservations about putting myself in stasis and into the hands of complete strangers who haven't even stated their intentions.”

  Aiden bit back a curse. Well, these guys were some of the most brilliant humans in existence. And considering the fate Elyssa might have in store for them, the guy was smart to worry. Didn't make him potentially causing a panic or passive rebellion among his colleagues any less of a pain in the exhaust port, though.

  “Tell you what,” he said as he headed for the door. “I don't believe in slavery, so if you don't want to come with me you're welcome to stay here. In the hands of the enemy corporation that kidnapped you at gunpoint, and are now making you give them your entire life's work for nothing.”

  Oddly enough, the brilliant scientist couldn't seem to think of anything to say to that.

  Aiden rushed to the control room, trying to keep a bottle on his mounting temper. Lana hurried after him, looking worried but seemingly knowing him well enough to keep quiet and let him stew.

  Elyssa! She knew him. She knew what he was about. And she still tried to pull this on him? What did she think would happen the moment they took the facility and figured out what was going on?

  Barix brightened when he stormed through the door. Or at least, stormingly ducked and squeezed through the gap in the ruined metal. “Hey boss, this place has countless thousands of chits worth of advanced android components and other parts just sitting around. Ours for the taking, all brand new in their original packaging! Fresh from the factory floor! Even without what the ugl-uh, our benefactor is paying us, we'll still come away from this better than most of our ca-”

  “I need to talk to our “benefactor,” Aiden cut in.

  Both twins eyed him worriedly, as did the gunner in the corner, still being treated near the unconscious ERI staff. But not Lana, surprisingly; it wasn't that he was sure the young woman had plenty of opinions on his decision, but she apparently hadn't followed him into the control room.

  Well, wherever she was, she'd have to either call in and ask for directions or find her own way. The facility was safe now, and he had more pressing concerns than holding the hand of a wayward crew member.

  “Talking to her is going to be a bit difficult, considering all she gave as was coordinates to deliver these people to,” Belix said.

  “I don't think it'll be difficult at all,” Aiden shot back, not trying to keep the harshness from his voice. “Just link to the allnet and say “Elyssa Ennos” on a major hub, then keep the link going and wait for her to respond.”

  Barix whistled, idly leaning over and tapping a few keys on a console. Probably to delete the base's recording of him just saying the facilitator's name. “If she's spent the better part of a decade going to obscene effort to keep a low profile,” the slight man pointed out casually, “doing that will make her go nuclear.”

  “Yeah, well that makes two of us,” Aiden replied, turning back to his engines officer. “Do it.”

  Eyes worried, Belix nodded and leaned over a panel, accessing the facility's allnet link. Her fingers flew over the keys for a few seconds, then she straightened. “Done. Guess all we have to do is wait and see if she noticed that.”

  They didn't have to wait long; less than a minute later, Elyssa appeared on every display in the room, seated stiffly in a luxurious chair in an expensively furnished room. And, as expected, she looked . . . very displeased.

  “I don't have to tell you that that was very bad form, Thorne,” she said icily.

  “Well then, we can add that to all the other stuff you didn't bother to tell me,” Aiden shot back. “Starting with the fact that ERI facilities apparently run checkpoints looking for adult companions now.”

  The facilitator blinked. “Well yes, I was aware of that new policy, implemented a few weeks ago. I didn't realize they'd begun enforcing it at Recluse, though. More importantly, why would those checkpoints matter to you? As long as you didn't panic and start shooting up guards for wanting to check your blood, it's something you could've walked past.” Her cold, calculating eyes narrowed. “Unless, for some reason, them looking for incredibly rare and expensive pre-release adult companions was a specific problem for you?”

  Blast, he should've known better than to give an information broker a hint she could use to draw obvious conclusions. He kept his eyes on the display, resisting the urge to make any nervous gestures, and hastily changed the subject. “But that was just a slight hiccup that nearly got me and my crew killed. The more important thing you didn't tell us was that the cargo we were picking up from this facility is slaves!” He wasn't quite shouting by the end of that, but his composure was definitely frayed.

  “Of course. No slaves aboard your ship.” Elyssa rolled her eyes. “Out of all the Stag ideals you've left by the wayside since beginning your life of piracy, that's the one you've held to?”

  Her casual condemnation stung more than it should've. Especially considering the path her own life seemed to have taken since
leaving him. “I have,” he growled.

  The facilitator rolled her eyes again. “Well that's inconvenient. Would you believe me if I told you I intend to free them?”

  Aiden couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. “Of course you do. After paying us a fortune to grab them, sticking your neck out by pissing off ERI and probably the entire Movement, out of the goodness of your heart you're going to help them start new lives and send them on their merry way.”

  The severe woman looked at him coolly for a few seconds. “No, what I'm going to do is offer to hire them myself. They're technical experts, very, very competent developers of high end robotics and AI algorithms who were captured by the Deeks in a raid on an HAE facility. They're currently working with guns to their heads to produce the same sort of results for their hated corporate enemies, ERI.”

  “Yeah thanks, already figured that all out,” he replied sarcastically. “Actually, no thanks to you for giving me a heads up about any of it. Which I should've realized, given how thorough your information was about everything else.” He shook his head in disbelief, half at her and half at himself for being so gullible. “So after everything they've gone through, these poor people will now be working with your gun to their heads.”

  Elyssa's voice turned steely. “I intend to offer them an alternative to slavery, a generous salary and near complete autonomy. To say nothing of the protection of my substantial resources to hide them and, if necessary, fight to ensure they're not captured again. Their gratitude for the risk and effort I took to free them, combined with the generous compensation I'm offering as an employer, should make them more than happy to accept.”

  “And if they do refuse, you let them go with your best wishes?” Aiden demanded. Her cold, merciless eyes offered all the answer he needed, and he sighed and wearily rubbed at his eyes. “Pretty it up all you like, it's still just slavery in a gilded cage.”

  “If that's how you want to view it.” She waved dismissively. “It's still the job you took, the one I'm paying you for. Including the half you've already received.”

  “You think this is a joke to me, Elyssa? I've never dealt in slaves. I've never carried a slave aboard my ship I didn't immediately free. I don't want to piss you off, but you're the one who put me in this impossible position.”

  The facilitator was certainly starting to look pissed. “Thorne,” she said very carefully through a clenched jaw. “What are you going to do? You can't return them to HAE because the Deeks are purging that corporation's assets all over the universe, seizing or destroying them. Soon there won't even be an HAE to return them to. So what would you do then, offer to make twenty-six brilliant scientists part of your pirate crew? Even if you could accommodate them all, which you can't, do you think they'd want to spend the rest of their lives on one of the most hunted ships in the universe?”

  It was Aiden's turn to answer by simply returning her gaze, although in his case because he knew she was right.

  She snorted bitterly and continued. “Now consider what happens to them if you let them go. Even if you dumped them on a secluded colony to shovel cow dung and dig ditches for the rest of their lives, the Movement would eventually find them again, or I would, and their circumstances will be the same. The only difference would be that you'd be out the reward you've earned, and you'll have made an enemy you very much do not want.”

  It saddened Aiden to be threatened by a woman he'd once trusted like a sister. But he knew how to respond to threats. He straightened, spearing her with his gaze. “You're the one who put me in this impossible position. You should've known better.”

  Elyssa cursed and hurled something that looked valuable out of the display's field of view. “Okay fine, Aiden!” she shouted. “Go talk to your new buddies the HAE geniuses! Explain the situation to them in every particular! And then if you respect their freedom and autonomy so much, why don't you ask them what they want to do? Because I'm willing to bet your payment for this job again that they'll prefer to go with me rather than the alternative. At least I can protect them from the Deeks and offer them a good life, and maybe even a chance to get back at the people who enslaved them. And if they choose me then what's the problem? You respect their wishes, you get paid, and the Deeks lose valuable assets.”

  He hated to admit it, but that was actually a reasonable point. It galled him to send these scientists into slavery, even a gentle one that they chose for themselves. But what if doing so was the best option for all parties involved, while sticking to his principles just caused more trouble for everyone?

  Deep down lurked the niggling realization that no matter how good his intentions, his stake in this venture would subconsciously bias him. It would make him press the scientists to pick the option that was best for him personally, and even knowing it was also best for them didn't completely alleviate his guilt about that.

  The facilitator was giving him a knowing look, as if she could read all his thoughts and knew she'd won. “Call me after you've had your chat with your new passengers,” she said in a businesslike voice. “Or just meet me at the rendezvous point where you'll be delivering them.”

  She paused, voice hardening. “And don't be stupid about this, Thorne. If I can skate around ERI's defenses to arrange this kind of raid on their facility, what do you think I could do to a lone pirate ship that's already being hunted by the entire universe?”

  Her images on the displays winked out as abruptly as they'd appeared.

  * * * * *

  Terra Sarr wasn't sure what to make of this unexpected opportunity.

  Oh, not being rescued from this facility by mysterious benefactors who hadn't been sent by HAE, and whose motivations were unknown. That was just a matter of wait and see; there were far too many variables involved, and she didn't have enough information to reach any reasonable conclusions.

  And that was assuming this “Captain” hadn't been lying. She'd met other people who seemed to relish the unpredictability of humans, but she just found it tiresome.

  No, the opportunity that consumed her thoughts, even as they prepared to escape onerous slavery to a corporation operated by one of the most oppressive regimes in human history, was this chance to study the stolen adult companion.

  The possibilities! The companion had no doubt imprinted to one of their rescuers, probably Captain given the undue attention she paid him, and had been operating entirely outside the knowledge and oversight of HAE for over a year. It was impossible to ignore the potential data to be gained from a prototype who'd been performing her intended function outside the sterile environment of beta testing.

  This prodigal companion could provide valuable insights into their attempts to make the model authentically human in every respect. As well as the deeper, and more important, goal of providing all humans with someone they could create a close and intimate bond with. Not just sexual, but one of friendship and trust and affection.

  Terra wanted to know everything about this companion's experiences. Especially how she'd ended up as a member of a group of “free agents”, as Captain had called them.

  She sidled up to her object of study, who was currently examining the stasis pods the Vindicator had brought them in to make sure they were all functioning optimally and would carry them safely. “You imprinted with Captain?” she said bluntly, assuming the tone she always used when interviewing companions.

  The AI glanced at her wryly. “If I had imprinted, Miss Sarr, I could never betray the confidences of my human by telling you so. Not unless he wished me to.”

  She frowned, irked by this unexpected roadblock. All the test subjects who'd bonded with companions, most seeming deliriously happy at the chance to do so, had of course signed agreements to fully disclose all details of their interactions for purposes of the test.

  She'd have to speak to Captain about getting permission to debrief his companion, as well as convincing the man to let her interview him as well for feedback on his experience. Until then, she wanted to get whatever information
she could wheedle out of this rogue companion. “What about your unit designation?” No response. “Have we met, at least? I had close interactions with most of the prototypes we sent out, since I was a project leader in the Adult Companion Quality Assurance Division.”

  “AQUA,” the companion agreed. “Yes, I know. And yes, you worked with me. Were I not in disguise for this raid, you'd likely recognize me.”

  Interesting. A lot of information could be inferred by what information the subject was willing to provide, more than just the information itself. Terra wished she'd thought to bring the new pad ERI had issued her. Or better yet, still had the one she'd used for most of her career that had all the information she needed on it and was customized to her preferences.

  Failing that, her memory would serve. “How have you functioned since you began autonomous operation, then? Were you able to perform your assigned roles to the satisfaction of the humans in your care?”

  Terra could've sworn the companion hesitated. “In the main, I've been highly praised for both my utility and aesthetic value. However, there are some areas where I am beginning to find myself . . . lagging behind the requisite skills needed to protect the humans in my care.”

  “Not unexpected, considering our logs show no sign of you connecting for your routine synchronization updates, in order to maintain optimal performance.”

  The companion looked away and didn't respond. Also interesting; was Captain refusing to let her sync because she was stolen? Rational, if so. Although showing a woeful lack of understanding of HAE's strict policy on privacy, confidentiality, and protecting the wellbeing of humans.

  Even ones who brazenly stole incredibly valuable prototype companions meant for high ranking Deek officials, thoroughly embarrassing HAE in the process. Which, come to think of it, had potentially paved the way for the Movement to declare war on her corporation, attack her facility, and take her as a slave.

  Not that she was bitter.

  “You've told him that syncing is perfectly safe, and nothing about him would be revealed in the process?” Still nothing, not so much as a twitch. Captain must really not want her to do it. “I could tell him if you want. You really should try to stay fully updated for optimal performance.” Terra hesitated, then lowered her voice and continued. “Especially given what's happening. There are improvements that would greatly increase your ability to see to the welfare of your human and his crew.”