War Mage Chronicles- Part One

by Charles R Case

  "I'm sure I don't have to say this, but I'm going to anyway: behave yourselves. And have some fun. It will be a while ‘til we get back Earthside."

  She shut of the comm channel and turned to Grimms. "You coming?"

  "Actually, I think I'm going to get caught up on some reading, Captain," he said with a smile and a pat to Nyx's head.

  She smiled back. "Suit yourself, Commander. I won't be long. I'm just going to drop off the robot, then probably sleep for the next twenty hours. The last few days have been..." she searched for the word. "Stressful."

  "Don't worry, I'll hold down the ship while you're gone," he said with a salute.

  She returned the salute and, picking up the black case she had prepared with Boon earlier, motioned for Alister to follow as she exited the bridge. She wound her way through the corridors, heading for the newly repaired airlock.

  She turned to Alister. "You know, you can stay onboard if you want."

  "Merp?" he asked.

  "I mean, only if you want to. I'm not saying don't come. It's just going to be boring, is all," Sara said with a shrug.

  Alister considered his options then cocked his head up at her. "Merow?"

  She smiled. "Yeah, it’s totally fine. We're just dropping off the robot and installing the core. It'll be an hour, tops."

  "Erow?"

  "That's a great idea. I'll meet you in Boon's quarters when I'm done," she agreed.

  Alister gave a shrug, then at the next corridor, turned and gave her a ‘Merp!’ before taking off at a run toward the stairs.

  Sara couldn't help but laugh at his excitement at not having to go on the delivery run.

  "Cora, what do we need in way of repairs while we're here?" she asked over her comm.

  "Honestly, nothing," her twin replied conversationally. "The nanobots are still working on a few systems, but nothing that won't be done in the next ten hours or so. What we do need are more raw materials for the nanobots and printers to work with. We lost a lot of supplies in the attack."

  "Okay, I'll be sure you get what you need. Can you send a list to my tablet?"

  "Already done," Cora said.

  "Thanks."

  Sara turned the last corner and saw Baxter, Gonders, Deej, and Oriel waiting for her. Between them was a crate strapped to a cart. All four marines were in full Aetheric armor and had rifles in their hands, except Deej, who instead of holding a rifle was pushing the cart.

  "Captain," Baxter said with a nod of his helmet.

  "A little overdressed?" Sara said, raising an eyebrow and switching the black case to her other hand.

  "After fighting these things," he indicated the crate with the Vitas robot inside, "we're not taking any chances. Plus, I figured if the staff on Reemass sees how cautious we are, they might take extra care when messing with the bot’s insides."

  "Fair point. Shall we?" she asked, stepping into the airlock and keying the door open.

  "Hey, where’s Alister?" he asked as the door cycled.

  "He went to hang out with Boon and Silva. I told him this was going to be boring and that he could stay if he wanted," she said with a shrug.

  It would take thirty seconds for the door to cycle; fifteen seconds in, Baxter said, "It's weird not seeing him on your shoulder."

  "Yeah," Gonders agreed.

  "It's almost like seeing you naked," Oriel deadpanned in her southern drawl. Then after a beat, she added, "Almost."

  Sara furrowed her brow at the Marine, then turned slightly red when she realized that Oriel was one of the people that had passed by her door the day Boon was struggling to close it.

  Further commentary was cut short when the airlock unbolted and swung open.

  The docking bridge was far nicer than Sara had expected. Instead of metal deck plates, like on Xanadu, this bridge was carpeted and lined with windows that showed off the gleaming outside of the superstructure.

  Waiting on the bridge were six people. Four looked to be techs of one kind or another, but the two men standing out in front were obviously in charge. The one to Sara's left stepped forward, his hand extended.

  "Hello, I'm Director Franklin," he said, giving her a firm handshake.

  Looking at him was like looking at a picture of the admiral in his younger days.

  Franklin indicated the tall Asian man beside him, who stepped forward to shake hands next. "This is Dr. Sloan,” he introduced. “He will be heading the research on the present you've brought us."

  "It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain Sonders. A real pleasure," the young doctor said, pumping her hand so vigorously that his mop of black hair fell into his eyes. He didn't seem to notice, as he continued the handshake just a little too long to be comfortable.

  "The pleasure is all mine, Dr. Sloan. I hope you can get some useful information out of our friend here," Sara said, finally able to pull her hand free and indicate the crate. "We will escort you to the holding facility. Please, lead the way."

  Deej pushed the cart out onto the bridge, and the techs parted to let him pass. They started to lean in, obviously excited to get started, but Baxter, Gonders, and Oriel formed up around the crate, making the techs take a step back.

  "We should probably wait until the specimen is secured before we go poking and prodding it," Sara said by way of apology.

  The three of them began walking, with the Marines right behind, and the techs bringing up the rear. Sara observed their surroundings as they went. The station was beautiful; trees grew out of central planters, and an artificial sky made the large central corridor seem open and bright. They also passed numerous storefronts and eateries on their route.

  They walked in companionable silence for a few moments, until the director spoke. "My father tells me this robot is part of a new species, is that right?" Franklin asked, seeming to hardly believe it.

  Sara nodded. "That's right. We believe they are artificial in nature, and they seem to work from a central ship. The bot went dead after we destroyed its mother ship, but we really don't know anything about them, so we don't want to take any chances," she said, trying to reiterate how dangerous the thing was.

  "Fascinating," Dr. Sloan said, shaking his head slightly.

  "I've included the data from our battle, along with the video from each of the Marines that fought the boarding party. I thought maybe seeing them in action would clue you in to their inner workings."

  "Oh, that is marvelous. Thank you, Captain Sonders, that will be most helpful," the doctor gushed.

  He seemed slightly off, as if he knew the words to say, but not quite the intensity with which to say them. Sara chalked it up as a quirk, and gave the doctor a smile.

  "My pleasure, doctor." She patted the case in her hand. "Director Franklin, where would you like the core set up?"

  He looked down at the case. "I thought the lab would be the best palace for it."

  She nodded, and they continued down the main corridor.

  The station was populated, but not crowded by any means. They passed small groups of people going about their business, but for the most part, Sara struggled to find more than ten people within eyesight at any point in the journey to the labs.

  "Where is everyone?" she eventually asked, when they passed a cafe that had one lone patron, sitting and reading her tablet alone.

  Franklin looked over at the woman Sara was staring at and gave a chuckle. "On the planet. The vast majority of the population here is working on the construction projects on the surface. This is early afternoon for the station, so the halls feel a little empty. Come evening, this corridor will be quite crowded with people out for their evening meals." He indicated a side passage. "This way."

  They wound their way deeper into the station until they finally came to a large set of blast doors. Dr. Sloan swiped his key card and placed his hand on a scanner. After a moment, the door hissed open.

  The lab was huge. Its ceiling was a good three stories high, and the space was at least thirty meters to a side. Numerous workstations wer
e placed at regular intervals, each with one or two people working at them. There were more people in this one room than she thought she had seen on their entire walk through Reemass Station.

  Dr. Sloan led them to a large, vault-like door with thick glass windows in it. He pressed his hand to the reader on the wall and keyed in a code. There was the sound of bolts being retracted, then the door clicked ajar. Dr. Sloan pulled it open and directed them to put the crate on the steel table in the center of the room.

  "This room is a Faraday cage, so it should isolate any signal from the robot, but just in case that doesn't work, the room is also a vault equipped with countermeasures." He indicated the corners of the ceiling.

  Sara was surprised to see small turrets installed there, providing complete coverage of the room.

  "I’m more at ease, knowing the bot can be contained, but I have to ask..." She rose an eyebrow. "Why do you have such an extensive setup in the first place?"

  Director Franklin smiled. "All research facilities have a room like this."

  "But why?" Sara insisted.

  Dr. Sloan was the one to answer. "In case someone brings a deadly robot for us to study."

  Franklin barked a laugh. "Actually, he's right. You never know what you'll need, so they just give us everything they can think of."

  "What was kept in this room before we got here?" she asked, suspicious of the kinds of experiments that were actually happening in the facility.

  "Until yesterday, we used it as the break room," Dr. Sloan said with a smile.

  Chapter 40

  Sara and Boon created a core while in transit to Reemass, and then it took less than ten minutes to set up. They were starting to understand that the cores only did what they were programmed to do. Cora had programmed this particular core with basic instructions and the instant communications feature. Her own differed slightly, in that its programs could execute pre-installed scripts, giving it the illusion of thinking. Just like a computer.

  Where a core differed from a computer was it didn't require a coding language to program it. The cores, much like Aetherically adept humans, seemed to be able to understand any language. A mage in a tank system was programming the core attached to it simply by using the system. The core was able to observe and adapt to the user. Slowly, they would find a more efficient balance; the core would begin to take over the small things, like maintenance and reactor adjustments, leaving the mage to focus on the big picture stuff, like warping and sensors.

  Cora had printed up a case for the core based on the design attached to her own tank, and installed a screen and keyboard that would allow the user to interface with the core more easily.

  In the lab, Sara attached the box to the network, and booted up the core with a touch of her fingers. She then enclosed the core inside its own section of the case, which was then locked using the thumb scanner they had installed.

  "You can't actually touch the core unless you're a twin mage. If anyone but a twin mage touches it, it will zap them hard enough to knock them unconscious," she told Dr. Sloan when he asked why she was locking it away.

  "So we can never get to the core?" he asked, crestfallen.

  Sara smiled at his sincerity. "No, but, with the core networked to your system, you will be able to use it without directly interacting with it."

  He brightened at that and gave her another vigorous handshake. "Thank you, Captain Sonders."

  "You can repay me by finding out everything you can about that robot in there," she said, nodding at the sealed room containing the Vitas.

  "Oh, I will. Just you wait!" he said, then abruptly let go of her hand and walked away.

  She squinted after him, as if trying to hear the different beat of his drum.

  "Don't worry about Dr. Sloan. He's a genius, and like most geniuses, he's a little odd—but I wouldn't trade him for all the worlds," Director Franklin said, stepping up beside her.

  "I'm not worried," she laughed, "just fascinated. How long do you think it will take him?"

  They began to walk back toward the lab entrance as Franklin considered her question. "I would be surprised if you don't hear something from him in the next day or two. Three at the most. Once something catches his attention, he works on it until he understands it, and he works quite fast."

  They exited the lab, and were soon back at the airlock to the Raven.

  Sara extended a hand. "It was a pleasure, Director Franklin."

  He shook the offered hand and said, "The pleasure was all mine. I'm having my people bring the raw materials to the Raven's loading bay now. They should be done in an hour or two."

  "I appreciate the quick service, Director," she said with a bow of her head.

  "Not a problem." He turned and began walking back down toward the bridge.

  "That went easier than I thought it would," Baxter admitted, watching the man retreat.

  "You're bound to win some of ‘em, Sarge," Oriel said with a musical laugh that was in stark contrast to her intimidating, black armor. "Speaking of winning some, when do we get shore leave?"

  Baxter mimed looking at a watch. "Well, look at that. You've been on leave for the last hour."

  "Well, shit. What am I doin’ hanging out here with you?" she said with a smile. She gave Sara a sharp salute. "Ma'am."

  Oriel and Deej stepped through the airlock and headed for the lockers to stow their gear, leaving Baxter and Gonders with Sara.

  "Are you taking some shore, Gonders?" Sara asked as she stepped into the airlock, followed by the others.

  "Maybe. It depends on what Boon wants to do. We might just stay in our room and watch a movie or something."

  "Heh heh, ‘or something’," Sara said with as creepy a face as she could make.

  Gonders physically recoiled. "Uh, what?"

  Sara and Baxter both burst out laughing.

  "Too easy, Gonders," Sara laughed. "Actually, I'll probably see you there. I need to pick up Alister."

  "We'll see you as soon as we stow the armor," Baxter said, still chuckling. "Come on, Gonders," he said to the flabbergasted woman, and headed down the corridor.

  After a beat, she saluted Sara and chased after her sergeant.

  Sara stopped by her room and changed into what she now thought of as her 'lounging clothes', which were just a pair of black yoga pants she never seemed to do yoga in anymore, and a large gray sweatshirt that she could never seem to throw away, despite the worn out collar and several small holes. She grabbed a pair of ankle socks, but on second consideration, tossed them back into the drawer and flexed her toes a few times, enjoying the freedom. Stopping at her small wet bar, she filled a glass with ice and a few fingers of whiskey, then headed out her door and turned toward Boon's quarters.

  She passed by a few crewmen along the way and gave them all a friendly wave, or exchanged brief pleasantries. Most were dressed in a similar fashion as she, seeing as they were technically on shore leave, even if they were not leaving the ship.

  Sara came to Boon's door and, giving it a knock, got an immediate, ‘Come in’. She pressed the button on the wall panel, and the door slid open.

  "Oh, hey. I was wondering if you were going to show up," Boon said from across the room. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed and wearing her kitten pajamas.

  Sara immediately noticed that Boon's toenails were bright red. She looked down at her own toes and frowned. I should paint my toes, she thought, looking back at Boon's shiny red ones. It’s so cute.

  Alister and Silva were curled together in a knot that looked like it would take a sailor two days to undo. To her surprise, Nyx was in the room as well, laying on the bed beside the other two pixies. However, she was not asleep, and seemed to be having a conversation with Boon.

  "Hello, sister," Cora said through the speakers, and suddenly Nyx's presence made a whole lot more sense.

  "Hey, what's going on in here? You guys having a sleepover?" Sara chuckled.

  Boon rolled her eyes. "Does it look like we're having a
sleepover?" she retorted in a sardonic voice.

  "Uh, kinda," Sara said, not knowing if her friend was joking.

  The blonde woman checked her surroundings again then shrugged. "Huh, I guess it does kind of look like that," she conceded. "Me, Cora, and Nyx were having a conversation, and the others fell asleep."

  "Surprise, surprise," Sara said, rolling her eyes.

  Boon's room was smaller than her own, and lacked a couch. There was a table, but it was only for two people, and just barely at that. Sara opted to sit on the double bed with the rest rather than take one of the hard plastic chairs tucked under the table.

  She laid down on her side across the bed, behind Boon and the pixies, and propped her head up on one hand. She took a sip of her whiskey and smacked her lips.

  "So, what are you all talking about?" she asked, after making herself at home.

  "We were actually talking about the dreadnought and what to do with it," Cora said.

  "Really? Have you got any ideas?" Sara asked excitedly, as she sat up cross-legged, like Boon, and scooted in closer.

  Boon shrugged with exaggerated care and, in a voice that was two octaves higher than normal, said, "Uh, maybe?"

  "Right now, it's barely an idea. More like the idea of an idea," Cora said, jumping in. "We were talking to Nyx about how the pixies originally flew the ship, and trying to come up with a way that we could maybe reoutfit it so they could do it again."

  "Really? They could do that?" Sara asked, raising an eyebrow at Nyx.

  "No, they can't," Boon said dejectedly.

  "Nyx says the modifications happened so long ago that they have no record of how it was done," Cora said. "I mean, it was several hundred thousand years ago. We humans barely have five thousand years of history recorded."

  Sara pursed her lips. "To be honest, I had this idea rolling around in the back of my mind, as well. It's too bad we can't get it to work."

  Boon held up a finger. "We need to utilize the dreadnought. It's not doing us any good sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic. I think you should send me and Isabella on a shuttle back to Earth while we’re here at the station. It might be the last chance we get for a while. Even if we can't figure out how to get the ship up and running, we can at least map it out, and maybe get some new ideas," Boon said with a shrug.