Then the grenades went off. The pair of guards were knocked off their feet by the violent concussive force. It took a moment for her sensors to reset and get back to normal, and she used the seconds to stand up. She straightened her jacket and brushed the dust and debris from the front of her vacsuit. “Lewis, open this door,” she ordered through her communicator.
A second later it opened to reveal Jonas Valent, just as she remembered him, only he was in plain grey civilian clothing, holding a thin computing pad. She stepped inside and let the door close behind her. “Lewis, increase gravitational force in the passages around this room by a factor of five point five.”
He stood, cocked his head and looked at her. “Wrong turn?” he asked.
Retracting her headpiece she smiled at him brightly. “Do you remember your eighteenth birthday? After the party was finished and you were back home in your room I asked you what you wished for?”
He didn't understand, but she had his attention.
“You told me you wished to live in interesting times. A few years later you found yourself on All-Con Prime watching a foundry explode and said; 'you just can't pay for this kind of entertainment back home.'”
He looked at her in disbelief for a moment and smiled.
She went on. “I commented; 'that's pretty good evidence that wishes can come true.'”
“Alice?” Was Jonas' only response.
“Daddy's little girl is all grown up,” she ran over and jumped into his arms. To her relief and joy he actually squeezed her back. The moment couldn't last, however. “We have to go. I don't know how long Lewis can keep everyone on their faces. He has the gravity turned up to five point five.”
“Yup, that kind of gravity would strain systems. Who's Lewis?” He asked as he accepted her rife.
“He's my artificial intelligence.”
“Nice. Let's get out of here.”
“The primary artificial intelligence is redoubling its efforts to regain control Alice, I don't know how long I can maintain this,” Lewis informed her.
“All right, stop work on everything but keeping yourself intact and keeping the corridors nearest us set to increased gravity.”
“I will try.”
Alice looked to Jonas. “Now we head to my ship.”
“Thank God you have a plan, because I don't have a clue.”
They stepped out into the hallway and could immediately hear the whining of the gravitational systems as they tried to keep up with the requested output. The pair of guards were in awkward piles. They tried to move, and would be fine once the gravity let up, but for the time being they could barely shift their weight.
Alice and Jonas ran as hard as they could, the sound of strained systems following them as much as the sound of their footsteps. They made quick time through several corridors. It was like some mad mixed nightmare. She was running beside her creator, twisted, contorted bodies wherever they looked. The level of gravity the crew had been subjected to wasn't the maximum tolerance of the human body, but it was enough to force just about anyone down. Lewis had set it higher than she wanted him to.
They reached a lift and Lewis opened the door. “I expect to lose control in less than ten minutes,” he informed her.
“Okay, clear us a path to the port reactor. In the meantime, deactivate gravity and the cars for this lift,” she replied mentally. “Change of plans, we have to hold the ship hostage. We won't be able to get to the ship before Lewis loses control.” Alice said aloud.
“You really do have a plan,” Jonas said, shaking his head as he followed her into the zero gravity of the elevator shaft. The door closed behind them and she lead the way down several decks. “I really just winged it whenever I could get away with it.”
“I know, that is until you took command of the First Light.”
“Yup, and then I relied on you for all the heavy lifting, cerebrally speaking.”
“Until I was transferred into the Overlord Two where I eventually found my way into this body.”
“That explains a lot.”
“We're here, time to put on a real show,” she started taking off her pack as they stepped into the corridor when a shot caught her in the arm.
Jonas pushed her to the deck and opened up in the direction the shot came from, catching the guard three times in the chest.
He checked her and saw it was a through and through burn that took a piece of bone with it. It was immediately evident that as a reaction to her brute force measures, everyone else had tuned their weapons up to their maximum setting. The reactor was just up ahead. There were three luminescent tubes a meter and a half across, each one filled with churning liquid that fluctuated in colour between deep red and deep blue.
“Pain meds are already kicking in. I'll take care of this myself. You have to plant this explosive,” Alice said, standing with Jonas' help.
“Gotcha.” He opened the bag and pulled the long cylinder free. The remote detonator was inside. He took a look at it. “Simple enough. Safety on the device here, and another safety on the trigger here.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, cover me,” he said as he started down the ramp to the reactor. There was another guard, but he had been crushed to the ground earlier at an awkward angle. Jonas made it to the nearest reactor tube and realized it was a regenerating antimatter core. “This is the most dangerous power system I've ever seen,” he said to himself as he affixed the charge and pulled the safety strip clear. He recognized the trigger system. If anyone moved the device it would show on the trigger mechanism and the user would have the option of either setting a timer or blowing it right away.
He turned and ran back to Alice who was in much less pain. The vacsuit had regenerated across the wound as well. She smiled at him and flexed her arm. “Emergency nanobot kit built into the suit. My idea.”
“You make your father proud,” he said as he followed her back into the lift.
As they came to the level of the main hangar Lewis opened communications with Alice. “I am losing control.”
“Okay, deactivate dementia and upload yourself into the Clever Dream. Get her ready if you can.”
“Done.”
The way to the hangar bay was a grisly sight. The damage the Clever Dream was doing had caused a high temperature explosion throughout several hallways. They could see where pipelines had exploded, blowing huge holes in the walls and charring the decks and ceilings. The fire had been put out, whatever was flowing through those pipelines had been turned off but there were still corpses scattered throughout the hallways.
They turned the second last corner before getting to the nearest hangar access point when the door in front of them slid open to reveal a squadron of soldiers ready in firing formation. One group was in a kneeling line with rifles ready, the group behind were standing with their weapons trained on them as well.
Alice and Jonas moved with the same swift motion, diving into the adjoining hallway. Several shots rang out milliseconds behind them.
“Hold fire!” Called the familiar voice of Gabriel Meunez. “Alice, Jonas you can come out.”
“I do not believe you!” Jonas called back.
Alice couldn't help but chuckle. She took the dull grey metal sleeve off the detonator switch and gripped the cylinder. “I have a particle bomb strapped to your port reactor and one of us is holding a dead man's switch.” She balled the hand with the dead man's switch so Jonas could see that it was small enough for her to completely hide in her palm.
He caught on and balled his free hand. “We want a clear path to her ship.”
“Let's discuss this,” Gabriel said, trying to sound patient and shouting shakily, unsteadily instead.
“Ever since they woke me up I've been learning to hate this guy,” Jonas whispered.
“I know what you mean, I have a masters degree in hating this bastard.”
“Wow, my sense of humour, only better,” Jonas said with a quiet chuckle. “We're coming out!” He yelled.
>
“We are?” Alice asked in a whisper.
“What, we don't have to? Is there another way to your ship?”
“Maybe. Lewis, how is the Clever Dream?”
“A little warm but in fine condition. The main hangar doors are still closed though,” Lewis replied in her implant.
“Damn, the ship is still behind a locked door,” Alice relayed.
“Time for threats,” Jonas shrugged.
“Okay, we're going to leave. Open the hangar doors or I blow this and take the nearest escape shuttle out of here!” Alice shouted as she nodded towards the round door at the end of the hall.
To Jonas that little round hatch seemed very far away even though it was only ten meters. The thought of escaping with a five ton antimatter reactor exploding right behind them wasn't exactly something he was looking forward to.
“I don't believe you have a dead man's switch.” Replied Gabriel.
Alice shrugged and held her hand out into the hall.
“I can't see it with your hand closed.”
She raised her middle finger to reveal the detonator. “Have a crew member check the reactor, moron.”
They could hear more guards taking up positions from the way they had come.
Jonas looked at the wall he was facing and pulled an access panel free. There were a couple dozen wires, a ribbon cable, and a small box many of them ran through.
Alice brought her hand back in from the hall and mouthed; “What are you doing?”
“I don't know,” he whispered with a shrug.
His antics gave Alice an idea. “Lewis, patch into the service bot and hook into the computer system controlling the door. Maybe you can hack it into opening,” She communicated mentally.
Jonas forgot about the wiring and raised his rifle to cover the hallway intersection.
“Come now, we can be civilized about this. Please calm down and we'll talk things over,” Meunez called out.
“Oh, I know how you Vindyne love to sit around talking things over. My head still hurts from the last time,” Jonas called back. An armour clad black knee poked in from the left just enough for them both to see. Without thinking Jonas took aim with the rifle and fired. The damage was far more severe than he expected. The guard was sent wailing into the open, holding his half severed shin.
“Back off now or everyone here makes a mad dash for an emergency shuttle,” Alice warned. “Lewis, how is the bot doing?” She thought.
“Well! We've found some exposed wiring!”
“So the door will be open and you'll be able to pick us up?”
“There is an excellent chance.”
Alice looked to Jonas, who was still watching for anyone to poke their head or other appendages into the open. “We have a ride,” she mouthed to him, nodding at the escape shuttle.
He gave her a surprised expression. “We're getting away in that?”
“My ship will pick us up.”
Jonas grinned and nodded. “Run for it!” He whispered.
She complied.
“Hey Gabriel, give my regards to Major Hampon if you make it out of this alive. Tell him I'll be seeing him soon, real soon,” he said before firing wildly as he ran backwards down the hallway.
By the time he got there the hatch was open and he fell inside. The door closed behind him and the small, circular shuttle launched with a sudden lurch.
“The hangar door is open! The maintenance bot is on his way back to the ship,” Lewis reported.
“Great! Forget the bot! Come pick us up, we're in a little pod!” Alice replied mentally. “Lewis is on his way, he should be here any second.”
“One hell of a rescue, I can't thank you enough,” Jonas said as he strapped himself into one of the forward seats. The carrier began to shrink in the distance and Alice smiled at Jonas. “I had no idea you were there. He tried to capture me and got a lot more than he bargained for.”
“Are you kidding?” Jonas said in disbelief.
“Nope, Gabriel has been chasing me in one way or another since I became human.”
There was a clashing sound against the hull and the airlock safety indicator turned green.
Alice unbuckled her safety belt and opened the hatch. To her relief they had docked with the Clever Dream.
They made their way to the small bridge. “Is this an Arcyn ship?” Jonas asked, looking around at the lush black and crimson interior halls.
“An Arcyn Starskipper,” Alice said, awfully proud.
“I never thought I'd see the inside of one of these. You've done well for yourself.”
“Yup, not bad for being on the run.”
“Fighters will be within firing range in twenty three seconds, but our wormhole drive is ready,” Lewis's voice reported through the bridge audio systems. “To say the ship is warmed up is an understatement.”
Alice dropped herself into the pilot's seat and looked down at her hand, still clutching the detonator. She looked at the depiction of the VCS Malice on the pilot's display.
“What range does that trigger have?” Jonas asked.
“Not much further I think,” she replied. “Lewis, set course for the Enreega system and start generating a wormhole as soon as you're ready.”
“Plotting now, we'll be ready in nine seconds.”
Alice and Jonas couldn't help but flinch as the port side of the VCS Malice exploded, sending large sections of hull in all directions. They watched for a moment before the Clever Dream opened a wormhole and left the chaos behind.
“A souvenir,” Alice grinned as she handed Jonas the detonator.
The Triton
The numbness in Ramirez's extremities was fading quickly and when he opened his eyes he took a moment to look around without moving. He was in a very comfortable medical treatment bed. The beige and green sheet over him was actually very nice, and he wasn't restrained.
The ceiling and walls were painted in a gradient of blue, green and brown from the middle of the medical centre to the floor. Something had happened, whatever was in that injector had knocked him out cold. He wasn't dead, of that he was pretty sure, but he definitely wasn't in the brig. He rolled his head to the right and caught sight of Frost, who was snoring softly. “Psst! Frost!” he whispered. There was no response, but people didn't snore in stasis. “Hey Frost! You'll never see Ireland!” He whispered harshly.
Frost stirred. “G'mornin',” he grumbled, “you'll never see Mexico, you wanker.”
“Where are we?” He asked.
“Oh, right, you're just wakin' up. Th' medic here said you jammed yerself with an emergency stasis stick. Prolly saved yer life too.”
“That explains it. Where are we?”
“Medical bay of the Triton. Captain's new ship.”
“What happened?”
“Bloody resurrection, that's what. Wheeler shot him a bunch of times, then he turns his back and the Captain's on him. Healed up in just a few seconds, like he's made of miracles.”
“What do you mean, shot up?”
“We thought he was dead. He was burned right through in a couple places, point blank shot to the neck was the worst.”
“And he's alive.”
“Aye. Feels good ta be on the winnin' side.”
“What about the rest of the crew?”
“Turns out Wheeler's not a rich man. Captain bought 'em. They're getting paid twice what Regent Galactic was offerin' and that's not much. Don't know where they got these folks but they work fer peanuts. Bout three hundred credits a week.”
“That's nothing. Sounds like Regent though. What happened to you?”
“Metal in my skull got magnetized when Finn set off the Big Surprise. I was fine for a bit, got a headache later on then passed out. The Medic here figured it out and demagnetized me. Said I should stick around, get some rest and stay for observin'. I'm not arguin'.”
“So he's running the ship?”
“Yup, got the command codes from Wheeler and won't let him far out of sight. He keeps h
im strapped tight to a chair on the bridge.”
“I've gotta see this,” Ramirez said, sitting up.
A fair skinned, black haired woman seemed to come out of nowhere, walking straight for him. “So you're up. Lay back down please,” she instructed with a professional air.
He did as he was told and she pressed a control on a panel beside the bed. A holographic display came up above him and she looked at it intently for a moment. “Looks like that emergency stasis injection did have a compound that accelerates healing. Not as direct or fast as nanobots, but much more effective. No internal scarring, no residual organ damage or metallic residue for the body to process. Did you know what it was when you used it?”
“Price said it was probably for accelerating the healing process. He didn't say anything about stasis.”
“Well, I suggest you read the chart on your way out of medical. The emergency stations are all based on a Sol system standard.” She informed him, turning the medical display off. “Almost everything on this ship is. I'm Grace Templeton. Your Captain's managed to buy all of us Regent Galactic crew members, like your friend was saying. Anything to get out of my contract and stay flush.”
“Hernando Ramirez, of the Samson. You a doctor?”
“I was training to be one on a drifter station when I was assigned to crew this thing. I think I've gotten twenty hours sleep in the last two weeks. Even with over two thirds of the ship shut down sixty five people can't manage.”
“I noticed everything was closed off. Every time I tried a door it was sealed.”
“I think your Captain is looking to solve that. We're on our way to Enreega where he'll be looking to get pardons for the crew.”
“You didn't like working for Regent Galactic?”
“Are you kidding? I was born on Niba, it's a small moon owned by Regent. If you weren't a higher up in some division of the company you had to do whatever you could to scrape up a basic living. My parents lived in a three room dugout house. As soon as I was old enough to sign my life away for an education I took off. Just last year I managed to make enough money to get them a ticket and some extra cash so they could go to an outer colony. I have twenty eight years of service left with Regent Galactic though, so when your Captain offered to pay us double and apply for our pardons with the Aucharians, I was first in line.”
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