Dark Star- Origins

by A. C. Ellas

  “Once this process is finished, and it does take several weeks, in case you were wondering, they are re-synapsed into the patterns that are the basis for the various classes. The neurologics are added, too, the end result being a completely blank slate ready for imprinting by an Astrogator. Trust me, Cai, there is nothing left of the original person in there. So whatever they did before is irrelevant. The Court considers them to be legally dead.”

  “Trainer, if they’re all blank slates, why have me pick at all, other than the actual class of adjuncts I want?”

  “I tell you one of the deepest secrets of the Guild and that’s all you ask about?”

  Cai shrugged. “Trainer, I appreciate your honesty and willingness to tell me where the bodies come from. But the criminals they once were are dead and gone. I only wonder if my mind was wiped in the same manner, or if my memories were merely suppressed.”

  Ortat stared hard at Cai, as if trying to impress the seriousness of what he’d just said to him. “Astrogator-elect, you are treading on very dangerous ground. I suggest that you drop this subject, right now, and never bring it up again.”

  Cai inclined his head again. “Yes, Trainer. Please forgive my presumption. If you wouldn’t mind, Trainer, can you answer my original question?”

  Ortat nodded and gestured to the various bodies. “Your adjuncts will be with you for a long time, Cai. Decades, at the very least. You know your own wants and needs far better than I, and you’ll know if a body is right for you or not. So we have you pick from a selection like this so that you can find the ones that you sense are compatible with you.”

  “Thank you for explaining this to me, Trainer.” Cai turned back to the row of bodies, concentrating intently on finding one that felt right to him. He walked farther down the row and stopped again, head cocked. “Hmm…this one.” He pointed to the male body.

  Ortat stopped beside him, looking at the readouts next to Cai’s pick. “An L class,” he observed. “Good mixture of nav and combat routines. Are you still planning on the Corps?”

  “Yes, Trainer. The Corps is only place where I can really make full use of my abilities. The civilian fleet has far too many restrictions for my tastes. This one appeals to me. What did he do?”

  “Cai, those records are sealed by the Court after we wipe their minds. There is no way for any of us to learn that information, which is really as it should be.”

  Cai shrugged again. “Just thought I’d ask.” He stepped closer to the body. “So, now what do I do, Trainer?”

  Ortat pointed to a slight depression on the silvery implant covering the right half of the skull. “Press your crystal there.”

  Cai pressed the crystal in his palm to the depression, bypassing his shields as his own neurologics formed a direct linkage to the blank mind. A jolt ran up his arm, starting in his palm and traveling all the way up to his head and out to every nerve in his body, a jolt mixed in equal measures of pleasure and pain. His mind reeled for a moment under the impact before seeming to expand to fill the empty void it was touching.

  Ortat was following the readouts closely, watching the process as the trainee absorbed the first of his six into his mind. The neurologics of the adjunct had been pristinely blank, untouched by psi. Now, they absorbed Cai’s brainwaves, tuning themselves to the Astrogator-elect. When the body’s brainwaves altered into an exact match of Cai’s, the process was nearly complete.

  “Let go of him, Cai, and step back,” Ortat commanded. Cai did as he was bid, and once the Astrogator-elect was no longer in direct linkage with the adjunct, the higher-level brainwaves altered back into the pattern of their model. But the rest remained in synch with Cai. “Excellent.”

  Cai took several deep, shaky breaths as he slowly collected himself. It felt like he was trying to put his mind back together after pieces of it had been scattered in multiple directions.

  Ortat touched a sequence of buttons. “Okay, this one is yours now, designation Six-L. I know you chose him first, but the L class always gets the six slot.”

  Cai thought about this. “Trainer, the L class is in the six slot because they’re a mix, right? They shouldn’t be on a cardinal point.”

  Ortat smiled. “Exactly right, Astrogator-elect. Do you do anything other than study?” That last was meant as a joke, since they both knew that Cai had no free time to speak of, and even while asleep, his subconscious was presented with scenarios and problems to work through.

  Cai played along. “No, Trainer, I don’t. If you have any suggestions on how to spend my leisure time, I’m willing to try them.”

  “I’ll see what I can come up with.” Ortat touched the release button, and Six-L’s eyes opened. The man stepped off the platform. Six-L drifted to a stop near Cai, waiting silently. Ortat tossed a bundle at the Astrogator-elect, who caught it easily despite being startled by the launch. Cai opened the cloth to reveal a hooded robe. He nodded his immediate understanding and turned to his nude adjunct.

  Once Six-L was dressed, Ortat indicated that they should continue. As Cai began to inspect the remaining bodies, Ortat said, “We only allow you to choose two at a time because trying to absorb more could put you into a state of shock…or drive you insane. Your mind can only cope with this process slowly, and too much too fast could fry your neurons.”

  “Yes, I can see that,” Cai replied in a thoughtful tone. “I’m certain that I don’t want to try for more than two, Trainer, and I’m not certain that I want to try for even two at this point. I think I can handle it, if you think I should make the effort.”

  “I think you’ll find the next one’s a little easier, Cai. Having done it once, you’ll be better prepared for the shock of it, better able to control the reaction.”

  Cai stopped at the very end of the row, looking intensely at another male, an N class. He looked for a long time before nodding decisively. “This one.”

  Ortat’s eyebrows flew up. “Interesting choice, Cai. Pure navigational, which is reasonable, even expected…but another male? Most young men select at least one female in their first pair.”

  Cai shrugged. “The females didn’t appeal to me, Trainer. Males are physically stronger anyhow.”

  Ortat gave Cai a thoughtful look before nodding. “Okay, Cai. It’s your choice, after all. Same procedure as last time, please.”

  Cai stepped forward and pressed his crystal to the depression in the body’s implant. Once more, he experienced a jolt as his mind connected to the blank assistant. But Ortat hadn’t lied; it was easier this time. When he stepped back, however, it took him longer to recover. Eventually, he led a pair of adjuncts out of the lab and into the simulator.

  Cai wasn’t sure he was ready to face the simulator, his mind was still reeling, he felt unfocused and scattered. But Ortat hadn’t asked, and Cai was well aware that it was the trainer who set the schedule, not the Astrogator-elect. So he drank the bowl of Synde quickly, watching as his two adjuncts drank smaller portions. When the simulation came up, Cai found his mind linking to the two adjuncts. Cai quickly discovered how much faster his thought processes had become, with an added depth and clarity of perception as well. He handled the extremely difficult simulation with ease, reveling in his added ability and power.

  * * * *

  Ortat looked at his monitor screen. Cai was lying on his bed, asleep. He was nude, since the Guild didn’t provide their trainees with sleeping clothes, and lying on top of his covers since it was a very warm summer’s night. Cai was about to discover the downside of selecting male adjuncts.

  Ortat touched a sequence of buttons, sending commands to Six-L and One-N through the network. The Guild retained some control over the adjuncts even after they’d linked to an Astrogator. Ortat triggered a pre-programmed subroutine in both men.

  The two walked into Cai’s room. The Astrogator-elect sat up as he sensed them come in. Like him, they were naked. Unlike him, they were fully grown adult males with well-developed physiques. Cai, in contrast, w
hile taller than both, was rail thin and not very muscular at all. Even thought he was eighteen years old, he looked much younger in comparison to the two adjuncts. Six-L reached out through the neurologics and took control of Cai’s body.

  The Astrogator-elect’s mental gasp was loud enough to break through the triple shielding as he discovered that he no longer had muscular control of himself. Six-L caused Cai to lay down and roll over onto his stomach. Then, Six-L climbed onto the bed and thrust himself into Cai’s body. Ortat leaned forward intently, watching through the monitor, watching Cai’s data stream as the adjunct used him. Other than his initial startled reaction, the Astrogator-elect did not appear to be struggling. Six-L had even released his hold on Cai due to the absolute lack of resistance.

  Ortat’s eyes widened as the data made it clear that Cai was enjoying what Six-L was doing to him! When Six-L finished, One-N took his place, hardly giving Cai a chance to react. But if Cai had been resisting, he might have been able to do something during the pause. He didn’t. He didn’t even startle when One-N thrust into his body.

  Once One-N was finished, Ortat got an even bigger surprise. Cai sat up, looked at the two men, and took control of them both. “My turn,” he said quietly as he forced them to lay down on the bed themselves. With a soft grunt, Cai thrust himself into Six-L, taking his own pleasure now that his adjuncts were done taking theirs. Ortat shook his head as he made a flagged entry into Cai’s file. It wouldn’t matter to the Guild if the Astrogator-elect was gay but note had to be made of it.

  In all likelihood, if Cai continued to display this trait, all six of his adjuncts would be male, since females were harder to come by. Ortat shook his head in amusement. Most of the ‘Gators he’d trained had reacted to this with shock, anger and even horror. Cai was definitely the only one he’d seen to react to the situation with enjoyment.

  Chapter Seventeen: Nick

  Nick and Leina hovered side by side to the left of the holotank displaying their current position relative to the convoy of freighters. Captain Bessiri stood before the tank along with his first officer, Commander Falkner. Another pair of lieutenants, Alonso and Rankesh, stood along the right side of the tank. The captain was talking quietly, using a laser pointer to highlight his words as he explained, again, how the Scarlet Dragon protected the trade routes by patrolling the edges of it and keeping an eye on merchant traffic.

  All because Rankesh had commented that the space pirates seemed to know where they were as evidenced by the fact that they never saw any sign of pirates, the freighters were always attacked wherever the patrol ships were not present. The captain seemed to passionately believe that their presence reduced pirate attacks, even though there had been a score of such attacks in this system over the past few months.

  Doubtless true, Nick thought, but Rankesh is right, too. The filthy pirates have to know where we are.

  “Yes, sir, I understand that, sir,” Rankesh said politely when Bessiri wound down. “But couldn’t we be more proactive in searching out the pirates? There can’t be that many places to hide a ship in this system.”

  Bessiri’s eyes bulged and Nick bit back a sigh. The captain was a good man, really, but he didn’t like to be questioned. And in this case, Rankesh is dumber than I thought. Nick turned his gaze to the system’s asteroid belt. Not as big as Sol system’s, but big enough to hide an entire fleet.

  Captain Bessiri shone his red dot on the asteroid belt. “There are millions of ready-made hiding places here.”

  “Not really, sir.” Rankesh took a step forward. “The pirate has to be able to see us, or the shipping lane, at least, and it has to be close enough to pounce and retreat quickly. That really does limit their options.”

  Bessiri’s eyes narrowed as he thought about it. “Go on.”

  Rankesh used a finger to outline two small areas of the asteroid belt. “They have to either be here or here. These are the only places they can both see if there are patrol ships about and attack the freighters quickly.”

  “Do you concur, Mr. Steele?” Bessiri asked.

  His classmate had a good argument after all, Nick decided. “I think the argument has merit, enough to be worth checking out. It looks like that section has maybe a dozen large rocks suitable for a pirate base.”

  Bessiri nodded and turned to his console. “Lem, did you hear that?”

  “I did,” replied the Astrogator’s voice. “Are we off to explore the belt?”

  “Yes. The lieutenant’s theory is sound and it shouldn’t take long.” Bessiri sat down in his chair.

  Nick and the other lieutenants continued to watch as Lem changed course, heading for the asteroids on an oblique that might help them avoid detection until they were a lot closer. It took some time, but once they reached the asteroid belt, everyone seemed to relax, as if the hardest part was over. Nick hid his frown. It seemed to him that they should be more wary now, not less. “Sir, should we go to battle stations?”

  “Not yet. There’s no reason to exhaust the crew on a hunch.”

  Nick refrained from shaking his head. The scans of the first three asteroids turned up nothing.

  Lem boosted them toward the next likely cluster.

  Abruptly, a spherical ship appeared on their screens, boosting out from behind the largest asteroid. In the split second they had before the ship’s first missiles reached them, Nick realized that he’d never seen that type of ship before, not in any of the databanks on known aliens. Whoever they were, they were completely new. And hostile.

  The missiles slammed into the Scarlet Dragon, which had only the regular defense screens up since the ship wasn’t at a heightened alert level. The ship shuddered under the impacts, and Nick winced as Lem’s scream blended with the blaring of multiple alarms. The screens showed the damage, the Scarlet Dragon was venting air and fire into space on multiple decks. The automatic doors were sealing across the ship, turning each section into a separate airtight compartment. The fires snuffed out as their air supply was cut off. The damaged compartments now read as hard vacuum, and anyone who’d been in those sections were probably dead.

  Rather belatedly, the AI announced ship-wide, “Battle stations, battle stations, this is not a drill. Set condition red. Battle stations—”

  Nick tuned the AI out when it started to repeat itself.

  Captain Bessiri was on his feet, roaring orders, “I want all guns targeting that asshole. Launch fighters on a covering vector, have them sweep around and attack on the flanks.”

  The second volley of missiles came in. The bridge went totally dark, but the sightless state only lasted a split second before actinic light flared in the forefront of the tongue of fire that reached down from the ceiling. Nick hit the deck, rolling under the nearest console. Intense heat washed over him, the scent of ozone filled the air. Dim-red lighting flickered on in the wake of the explosion. Nick crawled out from under the console and looked immediately to the captain.

  Or, rather, what was left of the captain. Nick could only surmise that the central burned husk was the captain, the rest being the commander and the other three lieutenants. He was alone on the bridge. He reached up and grabbed the handset. “Lem?”

  He was terrified that there’d be no answer. If the Astrogator was dead, so was the ship. But luck was on his side, it seemed.

  “Nick? You’re alive? Is anyone else on the bridge alive?” Lem sounded almost frantic.

  “No, Lem, it’s just me. Have the fighters launched?”

  “Uhm…no. They’re sitting in the tubes.”

  “Launch them, tell them to provide covering fire. Do you know where the Golden Hydra is?” The Golden Hydra was the heavy cruiser for their patrol sector and in nominal command.

  “The Hydra’s en route, I called Hal right after the first salvo. ETA twenty minutes.”

  Nick scrambled over to the tank and tried to piece together his memory of the system. “That puts the Hydra in orbit around the seventh planet?”

>   “Yes, that’s right. Fighters away, Nick. Now what?”

  It was that simple question that made Nick realize that he was the senior line officer remaining on the Scarlet Dragon. The chief engineer was also a commander, but not a line officer. Likewise for the chief of medical. He took a deep breath to steady himself. “I think we should head for the Golden Hydra, but very slowly. Make it look like we’re trying to run away but unable to really make speed.”

  “That won’t be difficult; it’s close to the truth.”

  That’s what Nick had been afraid of. “The singularity drive?”

  “It’s intact, but the scoops are fried and the ion engines damaged. We can flee—on thrusters.”

  “That’s perfect,” Nick said after a moment. “I want them to chase us.”

  “What?” Lem screeched and Nick held the handset away from his ear and smiled mirthlessly.

  Once the Astrogator was done sputtering, Nick told him, “Tell Hal to hide in the atmosphere of that big moon orbiting seven. Then, I want you to head for it as if we were planning to hide there ourselves.”

  “Oh, an ambush?” Lem’s voice perked up. “We can do that.”

  “Excellent, Lem, you’re the best. Now, can you patch me through to the chief gunner?”

  Shortly, Nick was explaining what he had in mind to the gunnery sergeant. The man listened carefully then agreed to the plan. Nick replaced the handset, wiped the sweat from the palms, and after a quick survey of the damage to the main bridge, headed for the ancillary control room located mid-ship. He ran the entire way, and when he got there, he immediately spun up the tank to see what was going on. The main computer network was still down, Nick noted, which would hamper any attempt at recovery. The holotank and viewscreens ran on a separate, hardwired system from the main computer network and Nick had never been more grateful for that fact. The separation of the screens from the mains meant that no matter how damaged the network was, the bridge wouldn’t be blind.