Project Starfighter

by Stephen J Sweeney

  “Upgrades have been completed. Final testing is currently underway.”

  “How long?”

  “Tests are expected to finish in the next two to three minutes.”

  “Good. Prepare for launch in the next ten minutes.”

  “Are you sure this is wise?” Sid asked, as Chris starting out of the bridge.

  “We’ll have to accept the fact that WEAPCO will be coming after us every day from now on,” Chris said. “Might as well get used to it and get some practice in. Come on, let’s check out the results of the upgrade.”

  ~

  The two men made their way down to the hold where the Firefly and the Manx were berthed. Chris saw that the machines that had been surrounding the Firefly as he and Sid had entered were now starting to move away. It appeared as though the upgrade testing was complete. He couldn’t see anything different about the cannons on first inspection. Maybe it was something internal to the Firefly, or some sort of extra coupling that wasn’t all that obvious.

  “Looks exactly the same, doesn’t it?” a female voice came. “Don’t worry, though. The upgrade has happened, and it’s working fine.”

  Chris started as a woman walked around from the far side of the Firefly. She was tall and slender, clothed in some sort of floaty white dress. Long, blonde hair cascaded across her shoulders and midway down her back. Her skin was a pale white, like porcelain or ivory. Her face was angular, her cheek bones high, her eyes enhanced by the subtle make-up she was wearing. Chris caught glimpses of her feet as she walked, seeing what looked like gladiator sandals and an item of jewellery around her left ankle. She was stunning. Chris gaped as the woman leaned up against the Firefly.

  “I thought you said the freighter was empty?” he said to Sid.

  “I did ... it is,” Sid said, his jaw just as loose as Chris’. “Maybe she’s just come out of suspended animation or something?”

  “Who are you?” Chris demanded of the woman. “How did you get on this ship?”

  The woman smiled, and chuckled lightly. “Chris, it’s me. It’s Athena.”

  Chris took a step back, looking the woman up and down. “No, that’s Athena.” He pointed at the Firefly.

  Another delicate laugh from the woman, who was beaming widely. “No, I told you once before – that is a starfighter. This is me. I am Athena.”

  Chris studied her again. “Seriously?”

  “Who’s Athena?” Sid wanted to know.

  “Athena’s the name the Firefly was given during its development and construction. The AI decided to hold onto it, because it liked it,” Chris told Sid.

  “I’m not an AI,” Athena responded, having clearly heard every word, despite Chris speaking under his breath. “We’ve already had this conversation, too. I’m sentient, alive. I might be a machine, but ...” She swept her hands over her form. “This is me.”

  “How are you doing that?” Chris asked. “Is it a projection of some kind?” He noticed that the woman wasn’t straying far from the Firefly.

  “It’s a type of hologram,” Athena said. “A solid-state projection, a solid-gram, if you will.”

  “So, you can touch things? And things can touch you?” Chris asked.

  “Yes,” she said, still smiling. She looked very pleased with herself.

  “She looks like an angel,” Sid hissed in Chris’ ear.

  Yes. Yes, she did. He was still finding it difficult to tear his eyes off her. She was exceptionally attractive. He then shook the thought away. It wasn’t real, it was just a projection.

  “Come here and have a look,” Athena enticed him. “I won’t bite.”

  “Hey, I’m not going,” Sid said, as Chris cast in his direction. “You were the one who was keen to pick her up from that storage box.” He shoved Chris forward.

  Chris approached Athena, who held out her hand, a finger extended a little further invited him to touch it. He did so gingerly. It was solid, as she had promised. The texture, too, was surprisingly soft. It felt real.

  “Ha,” Chris said.

  “I was searching for a form that you might appreciate,” Athena said, grinning. “I remember sensing someone like this when we first joined our consciousnesses. I know I promised not to delve below the surface, but this image, or one like it, was quite prominent at the time. I thought that you might find it pleasing and non-threatening.”

  “Eve.” Chris nodded to himself. She had been at the forefront of his mind for a time. His first flight in the Firefly had come not long after his encounter with the tattooed mercenary woman. He wondered what had become of her. Had she been killed during that battle against the Grand Vizier? He had not heard much from her during the battle at all.

  “Eve? Was that her name?” Athena asked, tilting her head to the side.

  “She was one of the mercenaries that Sid and I were spending time with,” Chris confirmed.

  Athena looked past Chris to the black-haired man that stood behind him. “Oh, sorry,” Chris said, and introduced the pair. “Sid, the Firef ... Athena. Athena, Sid.”

  “Nice to meet you, Sid,” Athena said, holding out her hand to him.

  Sid remained where he was, and only waved.

  “Okay, not to worry,” Athena said, dropping her hand. “Eve. I remember her. She and I had a very brief talk. She wore the helmet in the cockpit for a little while. Well, I say brief talk, it was more like she panicked, swore at me, and took off.”

  “So, you chose to look like that because you thought I would like it?” Chris asked, gesturing at her appearance.

  “Not only that,” Athena said. “I am actually appearing as one of the popular portrayals of my namesake. Athena was commonly dressed in sandals and a pure white chiton.”

  “Um ... I’m sure that Athena also carried a shield, a helmet, and a spear,” Sid said.

  Athena smiled, and walked beside the Firefly. “Spear,” she patted one of the cannons. “Helmet,” she pointed in the direction of the cockpit, to where Chris knew the AI-interface helmet rested on the seat. “Shield.” She ran her hands through the air in front of her; Chris saw the visible shimmer of the fighter’s protective energy field as she did so. It deactivated a moment later.

  “Fair enough,” Sid said.

  “Arriving at Nerod,” the Dodger’s AI computer voice came over the ship’s PA.

  “Athena, this is all very nice,” Chris said. “But there is something we need to do. We received an SOS from a woman in this system, who is under attack by a squadron of WEAPCO fighters. We need to get out there and help her. I don’t know if she can hold out for much longer, so we need to do whatever we can.”

  “Why are WEAPCO attacking her?” Athena asked.

  “We don’t know,” Chris said. “Maybe she’s pissed them off somehow, or perhaps she’s part of a mercenary gang. We won’t know until we get to her. One thing’s for sure – there are a lot of ships after her.”

  Athena nodded. “Then we should help her. Get in and let’s go.” The projection of the woman vanished as soon as she finished speaking.

  Chris made his way over to the Firefly, the console in the cockpit lighting up as the system began to initialize itself. He sat down in the seat, taking up the helmet.

  “Is everything working?” Sid asked.

  “Yes,” Chris answered. The console readout was displaying statics and numbers for the fighter’s cannons that indicated that they had benefited from the work done to them. The power output was higher than he remembered, and the rate of cooling had also increased. All in all, it led to faster firing, more powerful guns.

  “Good, I’ll talk to you from the bridge,” Sid said.

  Are you ready? Athena asked Chris.

  “Ready,” Chris said.

  With that, the Firefly raised itself off the floor of the hold, and sped from the Dodger.

  ~

  How is she doing that? Chris wondered, as he hurtled towards Phoebe Lexx’s Valkyrie. There must have been close to thirty WEAPCO fighters circling her, Talo
ns, Mirages, and a number of other craft. Yet none of them was opening fire. A little way behind, a cluster of other WEAPCO fighters could be seen approaching, dispatching from a warship.

  “This is an SOS distress call from Phoebe Lexx, of the Eyananth system,” the woman’s broadcast repeated once again.

  “This is Chris Bainfield of the Resistance,” Chris responded, as he closed in on the woman’s position. “How can I help?”

  “Oh, thank God!” Lexx responded. “I thought I was a goner! I’ve managed to convince some of them to stand down, but the others are ignoring me. The ones that are standing down won’t help me fight back, either.”

  “What do you mean, they won’t help you?” Chris asked.

  I think we should concentrate on assisting Lexx, Athena prompted Chris. We can discuss things later.

  “I agree,” Lexx added.

  Chris started. Was Athena broadcasting publicly? It didn’t seem so. He wasn’t even sure if it was possible for the Firefly to do so. He then saw the fighters closing on Lexx’s position give a sudden burst of speed, before spreading out and moving into attack formations.

  “Here they come!” Lexx called.

  “I’ll have you out of there in a couple of minutes,” Chris answered.

  He accelerated, speeding past the Talons and Mirages circling Lexx’s Valkyrie. Something told him he didn’t need to worry about those. For the time being at least. He heard the blare of a warning siren as a number of locks were acquired against him. He activated the timeslip the next moment, feeling Athena move in close to him. She felt warmer than normal, if that was possible. He seemed to think she was smiling.

  I will deal with the shield distribution and the power weightings, Athena told him. You do the rest.

  Got it.

  But first I’ll take these down, Athena said.

  The – very slowly – approaching missiles that had just been loosed from the Talons exploded in a hail of fireworks, puffing and dispersing. Chris adjusted his perception of the world until the WEAPCO fighters were as close as he wanted, before opening fire. The plasma bolts that issued from the Firefly’s cannons were visibly brighter and denser than before. They were also issuing at a noticeably faster rate than before; not as fast as he might have liked, not so that the rate of fire was enough to floor him, but it was still an improvement over what it had been. The first pair of bolts struck their intended target, penetrating the fighter’s shields, and battering the armour beneath. A third bolt connected a few seconds later, and the Talon went up.

  Impressive, Athena said.

  Yes. Much better, Chris responded.

  The remaining squadron began to peel off and Chris adjusted his flight path to go after them. He was finding that at the increased speed at which he perceived the world he was able to anticipate the direction that his opponents would go. He only wished the Firefly was able to move as fast as he could think.

  The WEAPCO fighters fell just as fast as in his first engagement, perhaps far faster, due to the increased power of his armaments. Return fire found its way towards him, Athena making the subtle shield weighting adjustments as necessary, to keep the plasma and particle bolts from defeating the Firefly’s shields. At times, Athena would take over the control of the Firefly, sensing that Chris was about to put them into danger or set up a potential collision. Chris did not argue against or contradict her decisions.

  “Wh ... How did you do that?” Lexx’s voice came over Chris’ comms. It was a question that he was growing quite used to now. It would likely never cease coming while he was under the influence of the timeslip.

  “I’ll tell you once this is over,” Chris responded, knowing that his words would reach the woman the same instant she had finished speaking. “And then you can tell me what you’re doing.”

  “Agreed,” Lexx said.

  Chris returned his attention to the fight, seeing only a handful of WEAPCO fighters now remaining, hanging close to the warship. He relaxed the timeslip for the moment, the speed of the world around him returning to normal.

  “What kind of ship is that?” he asked Sid.

  “It’s a corvette,” Sid responded. “One of the smaller ones, according to the freighter’s records. I’m just getting the data on it. It’s called the Duke of Wellington. It’s been in service for quite some time, about forty years. Its main armaments consist of plasma cannons, laser guns, missiles, and torpedoes.”

  “So, the usual suspects,” Chris said.

  “The cannons are steepled about the port and starboard sides, across the top and bottom, and can rotate through three-sixty degrees, as well as elevate themselves. Basically, it means you can’t hit it from the rear, as that will be covered by the rotation.”

  “How do you feel about this?” Chris asked of both Sid and Athena. “Hit it, or quit while we’re ahead?”

  “I can help,” Lexx said, before either could answer.

  Chris glanced to his radar, seeing the woman’s Valkyrie still surrounded by a swarm of WEAPCO fighters, all of which seemed quite content to follow her about. “How?” Chris asked.

  “Chris, the Duke is moving forward,” Sid warned.

  At the same moment, a bright red beam lanced its way from the bow of the corvette, connecting with the Artful Dodger and driving its way through the freighter’s shields. The beam had been aimed at the cab, where Sid would be taking command on the bridge. The shields had absorbed a great deal of the power of the weapon, but they had still buckled, and the attack had resulted in some significant damage to the bow. A second or third hit like that would end it, without question.

  “Chris—” Sid started.

  “Let’s hit the Duke,” Chris said, cutting him off. “Lexx, do whatever it is you do and help me take that warship down. That freighter is our home. We need to keep it in one piece!”

  “Gotcha,” Lexx responded, turning and racing immediately towards the Duke.

  Lexx’s Valkyrie was apparently faster than the Firefly, or was perhaps just able to accelerate harder. Chris sped after her an instant later, preparing to activate the timeslip as he came within range of his opponents. He paused then, the sight he witnessed finally flooring him.

  The WEAPCO fighters that had at one time loitered around Lexx’s fighter, not attacking and barely even moving, had followed after her. Around half of them now broke away from her, bringing themselves into an attack formation. Their cannons opened up not long after, targeting the few remaining fighters that were attempting to defend the Duke. It was a bizarre sight – WEAPCO craft opening fire on one another. Chris was more used to seeing the Corporation’s AI-driven vessels downing other opponents.

  Indeed, the Duke’s escorts, as well as the warship itself, seemed to be caught completely by surprise, hardly returning fire as they were blown to smithereens. Even then, with its fighter defence eliminated, the Duke appeared unsure of what to do. According to Chris’ radar, Lexx’s Talons and Mirages were continuing to declare themselves as hostile, and still broadcasting their WEAPCO signatures, but were clearly no longer playing for the home team.

  The Duke opened fire on the former WEAPCO-controlled fighters coming for it, but its efforts seemed to lack conviction. The same, Chris found, was not true of the attacks that the corvette was willing to direct against him, and Athena force-activated the timeslip as the blare of a lock siren came. As with the Grand Vizier, Chris discovered the ease of aligning himself with the corvette’s cannons, opening fire on their locations, punching through the defences, and taking the individual guns down. It meant that the fighters assisting him and Lexx would be able to work with a much reduced threat.

  With several fighters pounding it, dispatching missiles and dumping torrents of plasma and laser fire on its shields, the Duke did not last long. Sid signalled Chris at one point during the battle, warning him that the warship appeared to be powering up its jump drives. It would be preparing to commence an emergency jump out of the system, to save its own skin. Chris never gave it the chance.
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  “That’s two named WEAPCO warships I’ve scratched in almost as many days,” Chris said, as the Duke came apart in front of him.

  “Thank you,” Lexx said. “I owe you my life.”

  I think she owes us something else as well, Athena said.

  “Yes, yes, I do,” Lexx said.

  How was she doing that? Chris wondered. For some reason, he got the feeling that the explanation was going to blow his mind.

  Chapter 16

  The blond-haired Phoebe Lexx was a petite woman. She was smiling gratefully as she stepped out of her Valkyrie and crossed the hold to where Chris and Sid were waiting for her.

  “Thank you, again,” she said. “I don’t know how much longer I would have been able to hold them off if you hadn’t arrived.” She then laughed, adding, “Oh, yes, and thank you, too.” She rolled her eyes at her apparent forgetfulness.

  Chris and Sid looked at one another. Who? their expressions asked.

  “Who are you, and why were WEAPCO coming after you?” Sid asked, seeming a little apprehensive. He had, after all, been hesitant about answering the distress call, in case it should be a trap. Now things had turned weird.

  “I don’t know,” Phoebe shrugged. “One day I was minding my own business, and the next, I’m being pursued by drones and bots and all sorts.” She went quiet for a moment, as though listening. “True, that could be a reason.”

  “What could be?” Chris said, after receiving a shrug from Sid.

  “What Athena said,” Phoebe said.

  “What do you mean, ‘what Athena said’?” He looked around for the projection of the Firefly AI, for the fighter’s Greek goddess-inspired persona. It was nowhere to be seen.

  “Perhaps, but I’ve only just really noticed,” Lexx said, again to no one.

  The penny then dropped. “Phoebe,” Chris said, pointing to her, “can you talk to machines?”

  “Yes, of course,” Phoebe said. “How else was I able to tell those fighters to leave me alone, and also to attack the Duke of Wellington?” She looked a little incredulous that it had taken Chris this long to figure it out.