“Has she spurned your advances?” I said. “Romantic disappointment? Holographic heartbreak? Don’t worry; you’ll get over it.”
“That was low,” Harry said. I don’t think he was faking it, but I hadn’t said anything, had I? He shook his head slowly. “Let me tell you something: she’s on the bridge and she’s waiting for you. I hope that you fall in love with her and marry her and have kids, lots of them. It will be a nice genetic experiment.”
Hey, my genes weren’t that bad. I may have been a man of space, but I’d gone to college too. I wasn’t going to contaminate anyone’s genes.
Why were we even chatting about anything that wasn’t the enemy ship? We might not have been under direct fire, but we still hadn’t managed to leave.
“Keep the engines on,” I said. “Pull out of here as soon as there’s an opening.”
The ensign relayed the orders to the bridge and I headed to the great cabin. Walking around starships sucks, but I wasn’t going to board any of the elevators; it’s a basic combat rule. Officers in command aren’t supposed to enter anywhere during combat if they might end up trapped. Takes away much of the privacy when peeing and makes displacements long and boring.
Once I got to the cabin, I took out the stolen ship core, hid it in a cabinet and locked the door. Dr. Langley had told me that nobody would ever be able to hack into the alien ship’s database, but I wanted to give our scientists the chance to do so. The core was supposed to be an encyclopedia of all alien technological and cultural knowledge. We’d get a real tech boost if we managed to decipher it. Without Frateran DNA, we needed good hackers.
Harry had followed me and peeked over my shoulder as I hid the core. “What’s that?” he asked. “Doesn’t look legal. Have you stolen it?”
“None of your business,” I said.
“Since when does the honorable Commander O’Donnell steal stuff?” Harry said. “Mind letting me inspect it?” He got distracted by something, brought out several holographic screens and frowned. “Looks like we’ve got work to do.”
The outer hull clanked.
“What was that?” I asked Harry.
He shook his head. “The sensors don’t notice anything, but I can’t see any rocks nearby. Want me to run a secondary scan?”
“No.” I waved my hand by my ear to open an intercom channel to the bridge. “Bridge, increase the engines’ power and get us out of here.”
“Sir,” one of the engineers said through the intercom. “We have the engines at full speed, but we can’t move. We’re doing everything we can, but the force field traps us here. It’s turned invisible, but it’s still trapping us.”
“What does this mean?” I said.
“Don’t look at me.” Harry raised both hands, palms out. “I haven’t done anything. Not this time.”
Dr. Langley leaned on the door frame and cleared his throat by the wall. He’d changed his double-breasted shirt and sewed his wound, so he had no blood on him. He was still too weak to move and had large bags under his eyes.
Harry jumped back. “You look awful, Doctor,” he said. “Intense night?”
“The grappling sphere won’t let you move,” the doctor said. “It’s designed to trap you unless you destroy the ship, and a silly explosion won’t turn it off.” He coughed onto his hand and gasped for air. His other hand moved instinctively to protect his stomach.
“You don’t look healthy at all,” I told him. “Why don’t you go to sick bay and get one of the other doctors to take a look at you?”
“The best doctors are aboard Hostile Alpha,” Dr. Langley said. “I won’t let one of your medical amateurs get anywhere close to me. As if they’d learned anything useful in your colleges. I’ve read their books. They know nothing of medicine.”
“Your choice,” I said. “Feel free to let the wounds kill you if you want. A team of medical amateurs is better than death.”
“I’m fine.” The doctor limped to the center of the great cabin and brought out several panels on the main desk. He changed the layout and presentation and read a few stats. “Are these updated?”
“Real-time information,” Harry said. “You’re aboard the best ship in the world. We don’t delay the information we pass on to the captain.”
The doctor nodded and continued inspecting the screens. He didn’t care that I was in the middle of a meeting with the ship AI, and he didn’t care that he wasn’t supposed to access the bridge unless summoned. The Navy didn’t take regulations as seriously as the marines or the troopers, but he was walking around the ship as if it belonged to him.
“Look, Dr. Langley,” I said. “I know that you’re awesome in your field. You’ve been a good guide aboard Hostile Alpha, but walking into the great cabin and touching everything without permission is hardly the behavior expected from a medical officer.”
Dr. Langley nodded in agreement, but he hadn’t heard me or paid attention to a word I’d said. He looked up and asked, “How many Frateran Armors have boarded you this time?”
Frateran Armors? Nobody had boarded us.
“Harry?” I said.
“That would explain the noises…” Harry drew out several security cameras’ viewports on his holographic screens. Half a dozen Frateran Armors were boarding the Defender through a hole they’d just made on the hull.
“And you didn’t consider it necessary to warn anyone, did you?” I didn’t wait for him to answer. Instead, I walked out of the great cabin and summoned the marines, both in person and through the intercom. “Hooke, I need you to guard the bridge. Hightower, to me. Get a squad ready for some action.”
Both Hooke and Hightower rogered. Hooke appeared on the bridge almost immediately, armed with several weapons. She wore a headband to stop her fiery hair from covering her eyes, and she had let the rest of her hair loose. She looked positively dangerous, but she was the best person to guard the bridge.
Harry followed after me. “What do you mean that I haven’t warned you?” he said. “I hadn’t detected any ID chips or anyone aboard the ship. Do you expect me to spend the whole day checking security cameras? I have better things to do.”
“This isn’t the time to argue, Harry,” I said. “Ships have AIs to track this kind of things.”
“But, but―” Harry began.
“Want me to shut him up for you, sir?” Hooke offered.
Harry fell silent with her threat.
The Frateran Armors were headed to some of our armories. They wanted to lock us out of our weapons, and perhaps to return us the explosive surprise.
Our men took the weapons we’d stolen from the Fraterans and we got ready to fight.
Dr. Thompson reached the bridge and offered to help. Her intelligent eyes looked worried. She froze the moment she saw me and avoided approaching me. Now that I’d learned about Dr. Langley, I realized that her studies must’ve been pretty weird. I approached her instead.
I asked her to stay on the bridge in case someone needed her knowledge, but I actually wanted her to stay near Hooke. Our captain of marines was a killing machine. Being near her was the closest thing to being safe. Even with Frateran Armors roaming around the Defender.
“I’d hoped that you’d survive, Commander,” Dr. Thompson said, “but I didn’t expect you to escape so soon.”
“I’m glad that you got out too, Doctor,” I said. I would’ve stayed there and spoken to her for an extra hour, but the battle hadn’t ended. I needed her to be safe instead of acting like a heroine. “Stay on the bridge.”
Her eyes studied my expression. She knew what I was about to do, and she knew there was no way to avoid it. “Good luck,” she said.
I was going to need it.
Harry tried to become useful for a change and tried to decompress the deck with the Frateran Armors, but something was limiting his controls. It must’ve been the grappling sphere. We also had problems with the doors: he wasn’t able to lock them to give us some extra time to get to the soldiers. We were on our own.
> Hightower reached the bridge with half a dozen marines of the toy soldier kind: they shouted yes, sir whenever someone spoke to them, they were made of pure steel, and they never got tired. Admiral Graff would’ve complained about them.
I know I should’ve avoided the fight, but I’m too hands-on for an officer. I’d been in a serious fight only a while before, and I was ready for more. Hey, if the DNA melder had worked properly, I’d have died. I was feeling lucky.
Chapter 45: Kate
Kate stayed on the bridge while Commander O’Donnell and the marines headed to face the Frateran Armors.
For the time being, she remained under Captain Hooke’s protection and ready to help if Captain Dovrik attacked.
Dovrik didn’t take long to send his ships. He sent them escorted by a legion of escape pods with refugees in them. He was trying to confuse the Defender into letting some of his men board them. He didn’t care if he risked all his captives’ lives in the process.
“Why is he freeing the refugees?” Harry asked her. He was nervous, almost losing his patience, and he clearly didn’t know how to judge the situation. He was an advanced AI, but he was an AI after all, similar to a socially awkward child who doesn’t have enough life experience to judge anyone. “Is this one of his alien tricks? Or are you all trying to infiltrate us to conquer the Defender from within? I’m not going to tolerate any aliens aboard the ship. The moment I see you do any funny business, I’ll―”
“We’re both on the same side, Harry,” Kate cut him. She looked around in case some of the engineers had heard him. Everyone was too busy staring at the radar screens. “Why don’t you lower your voice and continue tracking the ships?”
His mouth acquired that disapproving look of his, like it had always done since he’d discovered her secret. He didn’t say a word and went back to the ships.
Hooke, the Captain of Marines, stood in the center of the bridge and barked orders to some of her own men. “Redford!” she shouted. “Stop staring around and hold your gun properly.” She glared at the other marines in case someone breathed without her permission. Commander O’Donnell had left her in charge of protecting the bridge, and she was taking her job too seriously.
Kate sat at one of the defense computers. She set one of the automatic defense turrets to attack one of the Frateran fighters and aimed another one near a shuttle in case another fighter used it as a shield.
Another fighter was heading towards the Defender, but her turrets were too busy with her other targets. She needed more firepower.
“Harry,” she said. “I need more turrets or some laser beams. I can’t keep everyone at bay right now.”
Harry looked at her and squinted his eyes. He was doubting her intentions, and he worried that she was trying to conquer humanity. She’d met many men and women who’d looked at her with those eyes, and it never ended well. They could’ve acted civil towards her, but they never remained cooperative in the long run. Harry had met her as a scientist, though. He shouldn’t have been so prejudiced.
“Harry, I need you to concentrate,” she insisted. “I’ve helped build this ship. I’ve helped with the science behind faster-than-light engines. I’ve devoted my life to helping humanity. You can’t claim that I haven’t already proved my loyalty.”
He jumped out of his seat and walked a few steps closer to Hooke. He wasn’t going to turn Kate in, but he didn’t trust her either. She was going to need a long chat with Harry once the battle ended. He was being very irrational for a computer. What point is there in making advanced AIs if they end up acting less predictable than humans?
Hooke noticed Harry and turned to face him. She placed both arms on her hips to look larger and more imposing. Harry glanced at her, then back at Kate. He wanted to dodge both, but he finally settled for the captain of marines.
Hooke, however, didn’t like his choice. “What do you think you’re doing? Strolling idly around the bridge?” she barked. “Go back to your station and do something. Commander O’Donnell might let your laziness take hold of you, but I won’t let you avoid fighting.”
“Know what?” Harry replied. “You’re much prettier when you don’t bark at people. No wonder that you’re still single.”
She glared at him. He stepped back and rejoined Kate on the computers. He glanced at her with fear, but then looked at the captain and reluctantly stayed in his seat.
“There’s no need to be scared of me,” Kate said. “I wasn’t murdering anyone when we first met.”
“I know,” Harry said, “I just need time to get over it. Don’t take it personally. It’s not you; it’s me. Why do the prettiest women always turn out to be the weirdest?” He wasn’t saying it to offend her; he was as tactless as an elephant antiquarian dealing with fragile objects.
John entered the bridge. Actually, he stumbled into it and forced himself to a chair beside Kate. He was supposed to stay in sick bay, but they needed all the help they could get to repel General Dovrik’s attacks.
Kate was glad to see him alive and well. It had been a long battle. She hadn’t expected to see him again.
Harry didn’t say anything, but he eyed the surgeon’s stomach suspiciously. John had been wounded recently and he’d bandaged himself, but Harry no longer trusted anyone who got close to Kate.
“Have I missed anything?” John brought out several screens with the enemy ships and set a turret to fire at one of the fighters while an escape pod reached them safely.
“Ugh.” Harry groaned, leaned back on his chair and lazily put both hands behind his head. “I’m guessing that you didn’t get here alone, did you?”
John looked up but wasn’t following the accusation of being an alien. He simply continued defending the Defender. They fought Dovrik’s ships and attempted to cripple them rather than destroy them. They were fighting their own people, after all, and it’s never pleasant to defeat or kill your own kind.
The fight was particularly hard for John. He was a surgeon. He had devoted his life to protecting the lives of others. He’d learned to heal, to prevent death and even to revert it in some cases. He did shoot at the enemy, but he wasn’t trying to hit them, only to scare them away. His attempts were still useful and slowed down the enemy.
Kate aimed at one of the fighters and hit its tail, making it rotate around itself and lose all control. It flew away from the Defender. One threat gone.
John congratulated her by touching his forehead with the tips of his fingers, then his navel. He’d done it very often during their youth, and now he kept doing it even amongst humans.
Harry raised an eyebrow at them. “Do you do that with… the normal crew?” he asked. “You know… the people with red blood. Or is this just you two and the others like you?”
John chuckled condescendingly to himself and ignored Harry. To him, no humans were worthy of their respect.
“I take it that you don’t,” Harry said. “How many others like you are infiltrated amongst us? Because this is starting to creep me out, you know? Does Fleet Command know about this?”
Fleet Command knew everything they needed to know. Some of the admirals were aware of the collaboration of Frateran scientists in the creation of the Defender, but most didn’t. Humanity wasn’t ready to accept that an alien civilization surpassed them in so many ways, and it would only cause chaos. Harry didn’t want to know; he simply wanted them to feel awkward for being aliens.
“Do you really want to know, Harry?” Kate asked.
Harry shook his head. “I’m going to contact O’Donnell’s aunt one of these days and tell her everything we’ve been up to,” he mumbled to himself. He didn’t specify whom she was, but he seemed fairly interested in her. Harry acted naturally and somewhat scruffy around the male crew, but he became too weird with the women he met. His programming had followed a strange self-updating procedure that was turning him into an artificial intelligence asshole. He was very human, though. As prejudiced and as prone to judging others as anyone.
Someo
ne called John from sick bay: one of the hulls had collapsed and an ensign was badly wounded.
“I’d better go before one of the trained monkeys tries to sew him up.” John stood up and returned his turret to automatic firing mode. “Will you be fine without me?”
Kate was going to be fine, but she worried for him. She couldn’t silence the voice in her head that said that he ran a risk if he left the bridge to cure someone. The Frateran Armors weren’t going to show mercy to them. Dovrik’s attitude towards the Defender had changed: he wasn’t going to take any prisoners.
She didn’t want him to worry, though. She wanted him to do his job and save the ensign. It was his duty.
“Will you be fine without me?” she replied instead.
John smiled, made her his classic gesture of appreciation, and headed out of the bridge. He still lacked the energy and the health to move quickly around the ship, but he didn’t mind. He’d always had the soul of a hero.
Harry’s expression oscillated between physical appreciation and disgust. He knew what she was made of, and he didn’t want to accept it.
“Guess it’s just you and me left,” Kate said with a broad grin on her face.
Harry’s seductive grin returned for a fleeting instant. “I’d have killed to get you to say that a couple of weeks ago, sweetie. But right now, I’d appreciate that you kept your eyes to yourself.” He was playing around, half-flirting and half trying to keep her at bay.
“As if there was anything to see…” she said.
He tried to suppress a smile, but it showed itself anyway.
The bridge shook violently and the overhead lights flickered. Most of the crew fell from their seats and hit the floor. Kate fell forward and scratched her healthy arm, opening a large wound that bled energetically.
She looked around in case someone had seen her, but only Harry looked at her with his classic disgusted expression. She tried to drag her feet over the puddle of blood to spread it around the floor and make it less visible.
“Harry, stand on the puddle,” she said. “I can’t let anyone see it right now. I can’t leave the bridge while we’re keeping Dovrik’s fighters at bay.”
Starship Defender: Beyond Human Space Page 19
