by Terry Mixon
“No one can be at peak efficiency forever, so we’re going to be switching off every couple of hours to make sure everyone is well rested if trouble comes calling.”
“What about you, ma’am? You’re going to need some rest as well.”
Angela grinned. “I’ll just call Lieutenant Knox up a bit early. I’m sure she won’t mind. It’s not like she’s been sleeping.”
Knowing her new executive officer, Arianna Knox had been monitoring what was going on from her cabin while she was supposed to be sleeping. It was what Angela would’ve been doing in her shoes.
The other woman proved her point by arriving on the bridge sixty seconds later. “You wanted me, ma’am?”
Angela smiled at the other woman. “Just the person I was looking for, as you already knew. I’d like you to keep an eye on things while I get something to eat and take a little downtime. We’ve got about seven hours until we arrived at the far flip point, and my intention is for the two of us to switch places every two.”
The other marine officer nodded. “That’s a good plan, Major. It’ll keep everybody well rested and on the ball. It’ll also have you back here in your chair an hour before we arrive at the destination. What’s the plan when we get there? I assume we’re going through first.”
Angela nodded. “We’ll send a probe through to see what’s on the other side, and then we’ll follow and take a good scan. Once we’re sure things are safe over there, we’ll bring the other ships through.
“We’ll also stay connected to the FTL probes we have scattered around the outer system here. We want to know exactly what the Clans are up to. When it looks like we’re ready to leave the area completely, we’ll send the destruct signal to terminate the probes. We can’t risk allowing that technology to fall into enemy hands.”
“Some of the resistance people already know about it,” Arianna said. “If the Rebel Empire has them penetrated, then they’re going to learn about the FTL coms. Are we sure it’s the best idea to allow these people out of our hands?”
Angela shrugged. “The best idea? Perhaps not. A path that leads to a true partnership with people that share a lot of the same goals as we do? Absolutely. No group is an island that can do everything for themselves, Arianna. We have to trust that the resistance is going to help us do what needs to be done.
“Could things go wrong? Sure. But with support like the resistance, things have a lot better chance of going right. Paranoia only gets us so far. To really win this war, we’re going to have to find people we can trust and prove ourselves worthy of that trust.”
The other woman didn’t seem convinced. “If you say so, ma’am. Now, you’d best go get yourself that meal and a little rack time. If this works out like every other plan we’ve executed, something is going to go wrong before we get done with it.”
Angela laughed. “Talk about gallows humor. See you in a few hours.”
When she left Persephone’s bridge, Angela allowed her expression to become a little bit more concerned. Regardless of the impression she wanted to leave with the other officer, she was worried. Things could go very wrong before they got out of the system.
If the Clans found them, they’d have to fight to the death. There was no way they could allow xenophobic madmen like the Clans to learn about the New Terran Empire. Them, or the AIs.
She arrived in the cafeteria and grabbed a bottle of water and a sandwich. She sat down in a chair off the side and ate slowly. Her exec was right in that she’d headed right back to her quarters to monitor what was going on. Just like she assumed Arianna would be doing on her time off.
The next seven hours were going to be filled with walking on eggshells and waiting for the hammer to drop. She smiled at the metaphors she was mixing. She was getting the hang of this old movie language stuff that Kelsey kept throwing around.
She just hoped that they’d get clear of Archibald, so that they could work on the next problem. Convincing the resistance to help them was going to be challenging, and they didn’t really know those people. Without direct contact with Olivia West, they couldn’t even authenticate themselves again.
Things could go very, very wrong very quickly. If they did, she and her people would be right there at the front, shooting at the threats while the other ships backed away.
She made a note to send a message to Audacious and request that those temporary fighter cradles on Persephone’s hull get new fighters to aid in any such endeavor. Six fighters could make a real difference if things broke bad.
Kelsey watched the viewscreen as they approached the massive station housing the System Lord. It was in orbit around an extremely large gas giant. If it was supposed to be overseeing mining operations, it was somewhat distant from the actual mining sites.
She’d heard Fielding say that the station was mobile but honestly found that hard to believe. It was so large that the idea of it moving from one location to another seemed fantastical.
Of more interest to her were the destroyers scattered around the station, all of them watching the intruder with weapons primed. There was even a scattering of light and heavy cruisers in the mix. The AI had gathered more than enough force to overwhelm Athena if she made a single hostile move.
Worse yet, even if she fired all her weapons, Athena would be unable to damage the station because of all the defensive hardware arrayed against them. Their destroyer was positioned outside of missile range from the station, likely for that very reason.
Obvious paranoia, though the fact that she’d like nothing better than to kill the abomination proved its concern warranted.
That made her wonder how an AI could go insane. Paranoia was a form of insanity, after all. Unlike human brains, which could develop unusual pathways for thought, exactly how did that work in a computer?
Well, she supposed she was about to find out.
Twenty minutes later, she and Austin Darrah stood in Fielding’s cutter. The original plan had called for them to use one of the small craft attached to the destroyer, but the Rebel Empire noble had insisted they use his ship.
The man had two of his guards along. One of them was acting as the pilot, and the other would accompany his master.
The final two people to board the cutter were Mertz and Fielding. The sight of the two of them together almost made her shudder. It was like watching two villains making plans together. All they needed were mustaches to twirl.
Austin leaned toward her, whispering. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly. This was neither the time nor the place to express how she felt about Mertz. She kicked herself for even allowing the emotion to make it to her face.
His expression said he wasn’t buying her story. “Every time you look at him, I can see that you don’t like him, and I’m not sure exactly why.”
“It’s complicated,” Kelsey said with a sigh. “Very complicated. Let’s just say that he reminds me of someone that betrayed me and my family a few years back.”
She felt somewhat guilty that they hadn’t explained her situation to the young man. Without that knowledge, making him understand that she knew someone exactly like Jared Mertz, who had personally betrayed her, would be impossible.
Hell, just explaining that there was another Kelsey Bandar wandering around would be awkward. She supposed the two women would have to act like twin sisters if they wanted to keep up the deception.
Though having the same first name was going to make that hard to swallow. She needed to talk to Olivia and find out what the game plan would be when they got closer to Terra.
“What are we going to do on the station?” she asked Austin, changing the subject and not caring that she was being obvious about it.
“My uncle gave me a list of parts that might need to be swapped out, but I’m going to need to convince the Lord to allow me to do the work and tell me where those parts are located. I’m not exactly sure how hardware can make a computer paranoid, though. It feels like we need to be reloading the softwa
re and rebooting it.”
She shook her head with wry amusement. “Why is it that you hardware types always want to turn something off and then turn it back on?”
“Because that works almost every time,” he said smugly. “Why get fancy when you can just move past the problem?”
The two of them finished strapping in, and the cutter left the destroyer. Kelsey had a good view of the station through the small craft’s passive scanners as they got closer. It wasn’t a mining station; it was a battle station.
Fully expecting the AI to kill them at any second, the trip took a seeming eternity. The large docking bay doors ahead of them opened and allowed the cutter in. The small craft settled onto the deck, and they waited as the large bay began pressurizing.
Fielding stood. “Once we go onto the station, everyone needs to be on their best behavior. The Lord is looking for any excuse to stop us, and we cannot give it one. Austin and Lady Oldfield will replace the hardware on their list. Lord Gust will supervise.”
“And what will you be doing?” Mertz asked. “The AI isn’t going to be happy if you wander off.”
The Rebel Empire noble nodded. “Assuredly not, but I have authorization to do what I need to do. It will comply.”
One of the guards opened the hatch and lowered the ramp once there was a breathable atmosphere on the other side, and they all departed the cutter. Almost immediately, Fielding headed for a different exit.
“You are not authorized to use that passage,” the AI said over the speakers. “Return to your group at once.”
“I have authorization,” Fielding said. Since he didn’t say anything else, he must’ve transmitted something through his implants.
The AI didn’t object as the man continued on his way. One of his guards accompanied him while the other remained with the cutter.
That left Kelsey heading off with Austin and Mertz to make the repairs. She wanted to ask what they thought Fielding was up to but didn’t dare. The AI was listening to their every word.
Once in the corridor, they proceeded to the nearest lift and headed for the deck holding the AI. The trip only took a few minutes.
As they went, Kelsey wondered how Fielding had known where to look for an AI on a battle station. He had to have plans for the station, or they’d be lost.
That meant he’d definitely had more information than she’d expected heading into this mission. Even more questions with no easy answers.
The lift doors slid open and let them out near a massive computer center. It was situated behind tremendous armored doors. Doors that were firmly shut, she noted.
“What now?” she asked Austin.
“The spare parts are kept just down the corridor,” he said. “We need to go find what we need and start swapping components.”
He led them to another hatch. Once it slid open, he stepped through and stopped so suddenly that she bumped into him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she stepped around him.
She didn’t need his answer to realize what the problem was, though. The large compartment that was supposed to be filled with spare parts was completely empty.
15
Talbot walked down the corridor toward Audacious’s flight deck. His gait was steady, but he was careful to keep his hands and arms close to his body.
It galled him that Kelsey had been right about his desire to combine the torso and both arms. He really should’ve kept one limb in its original state while the other adjusted to the enhancements.
Not that he intended to ever tell her that. A man had his pride, after all. He’d find a way to concede her point without admitting he was wrong.
Like that would work. His wife knew him far too well.
As he spent most of his time on Persephone these days, he didn’t often have the opportunity to wander Audacious’s corridors. He wouldn’t be much use in a fight this time, so he’d stayed aboard the carrier. Also, he had a few things that he intended to take care of while everyone else was busy escaping the war that had broken out around them.
That turned out to be a good thing, because Angela had just called him with a request. She could’ve just contacted Annette Vitter directly, but she preferred to do things in a personal way where she could. Since Angela couldn’t be aboard the carrier herself, Talbot would be her envoy.
Talbot almost rapped a knuckle against the frame of Annette’s hatch before he remembered that was likely to result in damage that he’d have to apologize for. Instead, he cleared his throat.
Annette looked up from her desk and smiled at him. “Colonel Talbot, what brings you all the way down here?”
Taking that as permission to enter, Talbot walked into her office. “A request from Angela Ellis, actually. She’d like to get six fighters assigned to Persephone before they go through the far flip point. Assuming, of course, that they find it.”
Angela gestured toward one of her chairs. “Take a seat. I have somebody that I think will suit the major just fine.”
Talbot felt himself grimace slightly. “It might be best if I stand. I just had my upper body work done, and I don’t have complete control of my arms yet. I’m going to assume that you like those chairs and would prefer to keep them in their current condition.”
“Far be it from me to argue with a gentleman when he’s declining to tear up my furniture,” she said easily. “I think the best officer to lead that particular job is going to be Lieutenant Senior Grade Gus Grappin, call sign Raptor. He runs one of the Flight Groups inside Eagle Squadron.
“Just in case you don’t know how that works, Audacious normally carries a single fighter wing of seventy-two fighters. That makes twenty-four per squadron. Each squadron is then broken down into four groups of six. Each group is basically three pairs of fighters. That gives them a lot of flexibility in combat operations.”
Talbot nodded. He’d had a general idea about that but appreciated the concise explanation. “But you’re down a few people, right?”
She nodded, her expression twisting into sorrow. “We lost some people at Dresden. We’re down to fifty-four fighters. I don’t really mind sending six of them off to join Persephone, but it is going to affect us.”
Her expression deepened into thought. “Although, that might not be such a bad thing. I haven’t finished reorganizing after the battle. We’ve just been operating with three squadrons at reduced strength.
“Eagle lost their squadron commander in the fight. I haven’t settled on a replacement yet. If I go ahead and move most of the remaining fighters out of Eagle and spread them into the other squadrons, I can bring them both up to full strength.
“That will leave Eagle with six, perfect for this assignment. I’ll bump Gus up to acting squadron leader and move Eagle over to Persephone. He’s got the skills to make this work, I think.
“If we ever get back to the New Terran Empire, I’ll see about getting replacements to bring his squadron back up to full strength and then bring it back aboard Audacious.”
“That works for me,” he said. “How are you holding up?”
Annette shrugged. “Losing friends hurts, but I’m coping. Brandon is helping with that.”
Talbot smiled a little. “I certainly hope he is. It would kind of suck if he wasn’t.”
Brandon Levy was Audacious’s flag captain. Commodore Zia Anderson ran all combat operations, while he commanded the ship herself. That made him a coequal officer with Annette, who was also a captain.
Fleet had a tradition of only having one captain aboard the ship, so she was simply referred to using an old saltwater Navy acronym: CAG. It stood for Commander, Air Group. That was an indication to everyone of just how hoary with age the title was.
The two of them had become lovers and seemed to get along well, so he certainly hoped their relationship worked out in the long run. As they both reported to the commodore, they were not technically in the same chain of command and were able to see one another.
He suspected that if the situation cha
nged in the future, Fleet would probably make an exception to allow their relationship to continue. The personnel office was filled with bastards, but the Admiralty didn’t want to crush the souls of their top commanders.
That actually carried across to his relationship with Kelsey.
Under a strict reading of the rules, he and his wife shouldn’t be stationed anywhere near one another. Obviously, that hadn’t happened. He prayed it never did.
Talbot doubted they would. Even though Kelsey was technically a full marine colonel, she’d never fit comfortably inside a real military hierarchy. As a Marine Raider, she probably didn’t need to.
And now that he was one as well, they would be a part of a very small, elite organization for the foreseeable future. That brought exceptions from tradition and regulations, too.
Now that he thought about it, he should recommend that they promote her to general. He was a lieutenant colonel and could handle the business end of a Marine Raider combat regiment, which was the initial goal after crewing Persephone.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he said with a smile. “You two are good for one another. If you need anything at all, even if only just to talk, you’ve got my number. Use it.”
She chuckled a little at that. “Yes, sir! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to dig into sorting people so that I can leave Gus five good pilots to take over to Persephone.”
Talbot made his way out of Annette’s office and was headed back toward marine country when the com in his implants pinged. It was Carl Owlet.
He accepted the call at once. “What’ve you got, buddy?”
“I think I might have cracked the encryption on the Singularity computer.”
He changed course and headed for Carl’s lab. “I’m on my way.”
Jared looked around the large room with a sinking stomach. Once he was absolutely certain there were no parts anywhere in sight, he turned back to Kelsey and Austin.
