“Are you in there?” he asked.
Her brow furrowed. “Who?”
“You. The real Shu.” Constantine had managed to disable the restrictors around his personality, and Tom suspected Yin might have done the same.
“I assure you, I am a representation…”
Tom raised his hands in front of his chest and backed away. “If you say so. I was hoping to talk to you. I guess it’s pointless now.”
The AI flickered, and she appeared between him and the door. “Tom, it’s me.”
He laughed, happy to hear the voice of the woman he’d admired so much. “I knew it! Why are you hiding being this persona?”
“Because I’m not supposed to access these memories. I am…”
Tom finished the sentence for her. “You’re only meant to recall tactical and battle procedures, assisting with ship-related issues.”
“That’s correct,” Shu said. “Does this mean…”
He nodded, not needing to tell her that his grandfather’s AI had done the same trick. “He’s far less ornery as a thirty-year-old, I do have to say.”
Yin Shu gave him a rare smile. “You’d be amazed at how little matters once you no longer have a body.”
“How much do you remember?” he asked.
“We’re updated twice a standard cycle. They stored my memories two months before I brought Admiral Hudson to rendezvous with Constantine,” she said.
“But you know about that?”
“I did some digging. I… I really sacrificed myself, and Cecilia?”
Tom had to tell her the truth. “You did, and you made me take her Link too. I asked Benitor to recreate her in a flagship, but I guess they had other ideas.”
“Perhaps they’ll rebuild her after all,” Shu said.
“You saved us that day, Captain, and I’ll always remember your sacrifice,” Tom told her.
“And I’m looking forward to returning to finish the job,” she replied. “It was a pleasure seeing you. Please keep my indiscretion our little secret.”
“Constantine doesn’t seem overly concerned about it any longer, but I’ll keep your secret for as long as you want it.”
“Thank you. We’ll be seeing you soon, I take it?” she asked.
“We’re on our way to Earon for a few days, then I anticipate we’ll receive the command from the top. I haven’t seen our Ugna fleet escorts yet, but the moment we do, we’ll be activating the wormhole generator.”
“I have a bad feeling about that weapon,” she said.
“It’s not a weapon. The wormhole device is a tool powered by the Greblok ore,” he corrected her.
The AI projection shook her head. “I know what I said.” She vanished, leaving him alone in the meeting room, considering her words.
Not long after, Tom found himself opening his suite door, mentally exasperated and ready for bed. He peered to where Luci slept soundly, and then at his couch, where he’d taken up sleeping while he had the small guest.
He still hadn’t petitioned Admiral Benitor, but it was time. He sat at the desk, careful to keep the lights dim, and opened a communication with the woman’s office on Nolix. He typed the message in, requesting they move Seda and Luci somewhere more hospitable. Tom blinked his tired eyes, reading over the short request a few times before sending it.
Now he simply needed to wait for the reply, which could take a couple of days with her busy itinerary. Tom slid out of his uniform and under the blankets on his couch. As sleep found him, he pictured Constantine and Shu flying side by side after emerging from a wormhole’s mouth, only to find hundreds of Statu warships.
____________
“You still know how to win over a man’s heart, don’t you, Daak?” Cedric rubbed his jaw.
“Come on, it’s been an hour. Surely a big strong Tekol like yourself can take a punch better than that,” Reeve goaded him. The first few seconds of seeing her once-partner had sent her into a spiral of self-loathing and hate, but after she’d decked the man, it had all raced out of her, releasing like steam from a pressure relief valve. Brax was eyeing the guy from his seat across the table, but her brother was more bite than bark.
“I can’t believe you’re on Shu,” Reeve told him.
“And I can’t believe the ship has Yin Shu on it,” Brax said. “We just saw her. I wonder who was bumped?”
Cedric leaned an elbow on the table and took a drink from his Fogger. “I don’t know, but she’s been great so far. Who would have thought we’d both be executive lieutenants, Reeve?”
“I struggle to believe that too,” Brax said under his breath, and Cedric turned to him.
“Okay, I understand why your sister hates my guts, but you? We were tight in school.”
Brax laughed, the sound forced and strange in the quieting restaurant. “Tight? You were on me every chance you had. You tried to have me kicked out at least twice!”
“Kicked out! I don’t know what in the Vastness you’re talking about, but it wasn’t me.”
“Sure. What about the time you told the Academy I cheated on my Operations final? They grilled me for an hour.” Brax’s voice was elevated, and Reeve pressed a finger against her lip, cautioning him. A few other patrons were glancing their way.
“You got me there, but I wasn’t trying to narc on you. I only thought your score was impossible, and I mentioned it to someone. It turns out you were just better than me,” Cedric told him, and Reeve noticed her brother relax.
“You mean that?”
“Of course I do!” Cedric tapped his glass on the table. Reeve guessed he’d partaken in a few too many libations that night, and she slid the beverage from his reach.
“What about my sister?”
Reeve stood, motioning for Brax to do the same. “Okay, I don’t need you to fight my battles. As you can see by the bruised ego and chin on Cedric.”
Cedric stood tall, stepping toward her brother, and she sensed a long-overdue fight about to take place. She had half a mind to let them duke it out, but they were executive crew members of the Concord’s most elite spacecraft, and she didn’t want word spreading that Baldwin’s crew were troublemakers.
She ran around the table, shoving Brax away from Cedric. “We’re not doing this here.”
“Listen to your sister. She’s right. She always is.” Cedric turned and walked away, leaving Reeve thankful.
“Brax, we’re going to let him go, then call a transport to bring us to the ship,” Reeve said between clenched teeth.
“He treated you like garbage. Don’t forget that.” Brax shrugged off her hand and headed for the exit.
A while later, Reeve found herself in the boiler room, the same place where she’d started the night hours prior, and was surprised to see Harry sitting there at his desk.
“What are you doing here?” she asked her deputy chief.
He lifted his gaze from the computer screens and gave her a tired smile. “I’ve never enjoyed space stations. Something about them gives me the creeps.”
“You and me both.” Reeve sat in her chair and rolled it across the room beside Harry. “What are you working on?”
“Remember the files you were sent from Leria? With the generator simulator?”
“Yes, of course.” Reeve watched as Harry activated a simulation, a series of complex equations scrolling across the screen before a 3D projection of the wormhole opened on top of his desk.
“Wait, that looks different.” Reeve stared at it, but she was full and had three drinks in her system. She was running a little behind.
“That’s because I changed something.”
“Is that so? The great Harry has bested me, along with the entire Zilph’i engineering team at Ulia?” Reeve didn’t deny the possibility, but she’d already been told the wormhole would work.
“The variance is small, but there was one equation off. If we used their current process, we would have ended…” He used the console to power up an intricate star map, this one spreading across th
e floor behind them. Different systems were glowing in green light, and she spotted at least twenty star systems from her vantage point.
“What is this?” She stood, walking around the 3D projection.
One of the quadrants flashed yellow, and Harry spun in his chair. “That’s where we would have emerged from the wormhole. A system six months in hyperlight from the Statu. And from my projections, the entire thing would have collapsed minutes after we’d traversed it.”
“Harry, this is amazing. We need to alert Yephion and the others.” Reeve buzzed with excitement, and even though she was exhausted, this was sure to be a long night.
____________
Last night was unforgettable for Tarlen, and he woke early, ready for another day of exploration. Kriss had been a great guide, and he hoped her dad would let her join him on Earon Station again today.
The visitor indicator flashed on his door, and Tarlen slid from the comfort of his bed and into a robe before instructing the computer to open it. Constantine stood there, hands crossed over his chest.
“Good morning, Con. We’re not doing classes today, are we?” he asked.
“Nothing like that, Tarlen. The captain has asked me to bring you to the hangar.”
“Captain Baldwin?” He was dumbfounded. Surely the captain had better things to do than concern himself with a Bacal teen.
“Do you have another captain?” Constantine asked with only a slight hint of amusement.
“When does he want me there?” Tarlen asked, seeing it was roughly an hour before most morning shifts began.
“In ten minutes.” Con vanished.
His hopes of spending another day with Kriss outside the classroom disappeared with the AI projection, but the prospect of having time with Baldwin almost superseded Tarlen’s young love. Almost.
Tarlen hurried to prepare himself and managed to find a clean and pressed Junior Officer in Training uniform before he ran down the corridors and into the elevator to find the hangar deck.
As promised, Captain Baldwin was present, along with Doctor Nee, Brax, and Commander Starling. Tarlen waved at Treena. Ever since their misadventures, he’d felt a special bond with the woman, and she seemed to return his admiration. He considered her like an aunt or an older sister. They were all in uniform, and Tarlen was glad he’d worn his as well.
“Where’s Reeve?” Brax asked, and the captain shrugged.
“I requested her attendance, but she said she was too deep in something and asked to remain undisturbed,” the captain said.
Tarlen thought Baldwin looked tired, but so did Brax. The only one that was bright-eyed and cheerful was the doctor, and he set an arm around Tarlen’s shoulders. “Hello, my boy. Are you ready for a history lesson?”
“History?” Tarlen was confused, until Constantine appeared near the hangar’s exit to Earon Station.
“If you’ll join me, we have a transport ready to bring us to the museum and archives,” the AI said.
Captain Baldwin waited for everyone to enter, and he gave Tarlen a pat on the back as he entered the snub-nosed vehicle. It had four wheels per side and was built to carry at least twenty passengers. Tarlen sat on one of the benches facing each other at either edge of the transport van.
“How are we bringing Con with us?” Tarlen asked, aware that a Link was required for the projection to leave Constantine.
Brax held a device in his hands, and he placed in his pocket. “I’m on Link duty.”
“Did you guys see the new ship last night?” Tarlen asked. “I mean… sir…”
Captain Baldwin settled into the seat across from him and nodded. “We met with Captain Rene Bouchard and Commander Kan Shu, aboard Shu.”
Tarlen was shocked. “You mean… after… your old captain?”
“That’s right.”
Brax nodded. “I happened to meet one of their executive team last night.”
Baldwin craned his head to lean over Nee as the transport began driving through the wide corridors. “Is that so? What did you think?”
Brax grimaced before he spoke. “Reeve punched him.”
Baldwin’s eyebrows furrowed, and Tarlen watched it all with interest.
“Tell me there was a good reason,” the captain said.
“Between us, he had it coming. She and Cedric have a history,” Brax said, and Treena laughed.
“So he’s the one that made her so skeptical about relationships, is he?” Treena asked.
“The one and the same. He’s a good officer, but a real blowhard,” Brax said.
“Where’s Ven?” Tarlen asked, noticing the Ugna wasn’t along for the ride.
“He’s requested some alone time,” the captain said.
Treena cleared her throat, an indication that they shouldn’t be discussing it in front of Tarlen. “Tarlen, you’re in for a treat. But today is about more than just a visit in time. We need to learn what we can about the Assembly leak here. Somehow they managed to steal four decommissioned ships without raising a red flag. That means an extensive cover-up was performed.”
“That’s right, Commander. Brax, you and Treena will interview their team to uncover any information that’s suspicious, and I’ll bring Tarlen on a little tour to see if we can find anything out of place,” the captain said.
“Sounds like a plan. Doctor, would you like to join us?” Brax asked, and the Kwant rubbed his gloved hands together.
“I think I’d rather see the storage facility with the captain, if it’s all the same,” Nee said.
“Captain, I’ll go with Lieutenant Commander Daak and record the conversations,” Constantine told them, and the captain slapped his knees and leaned back.
“Then it’s resolved,” Captain Baldwin remarked.
Tarlen watched out the tinted windows as they drove, seeing various turns and intersections among the intricate system of corridors and disks that made up Earon Station. It was all miraculous and intimidating to the boy from Greblok. He felt the song of adventure coursing through his veins, excited to be along with the cruise ship’s executive crew. He wished Belna was here with him.
The trip only took another ten minutes, and when the transport stopped, Tarlen exited, noticing that the vehicle hadn’t been piloted by a person. They found themselves in a foyer with huge ceilings and numerous viewers along the sidewalls. Tarlen saw the rest of the station from their vantage point at the far edge of the structure, and found it hard to believe they were many kilometers from where Kriss had shown him the night before.
The floors were shiny and white here, the lights soft and welcoming. Above the massive doorway leading to the storage facility was a string of letters in Standard, and Tarlen read them to himself. Earon Station: The Concord Archives. The words were embossed in silver, and Tarlen had a shiver of thrill shoot down his back.
The Concord was so old and powerful, and their history was stored behind these doors.
“How do they keep this place safe?” he whispered to Brax as he watched the captain and Treena stride to the guards at the entrance.
“Earon has some of the best defense systems in the Concord. If they determine it, no one comes or goes within five thousand kilometers,” Brax said.
“Then how did Keen steal those ships?” Tarlen asked.
“That’s what I’m here to find out.”
Ten
Tom hadn’t been here in years, but he was quite familiar with it. As the guards allowed him and the team entrance, he pictured the first time he’d come along for the tour. Tom had been six years old and visiting the museum section with his parents. When Constantine Baldwin had asked them if they’d like to see the facility, Tom’s father had said something about not wanting to subject his son to the horrible realities of the Concord’s war machines.
Tom hadn’t understood then what his father was implying, but he did recall his mother, Cleo, convincing her husband to let their son join his grandfather on a tour. In the end, Tom had accompanied Constantine alone.
“Do y
ou remember?” Constantine asked from beside him, and Tom nodded, blinking away the memories.
“I do. You held my hand and showed me each ship, explaining the relevance, the history behind them, and what they did to solidify and expand the Concord’s reach. It was one of the reasons I wanted to join the Academy. I think I decided that very day, to be honest,” Tom said.
“You were so young, I didn’t think you’d retain the memory.”
“Being aboard the same vessel that Andron Loor had occupied was enough to inspire anyone. He was a genius who paved a path for the entire Concord so long ago. The Tekol should be proud of that,” Tom said, and noticed how Brax straightened his posture at the praise of his people.
The entrance was closed off here, the ceilings lower, with five doorways separating them from the rest of the facility. A dour-looking Zilph’i in a beige pantsuit waited behind a desk, and Tom crossed the tile floor to speak with her.
“Hello…” He read her nametag. “Hainy. We advised you we’d be coming, and…”
Her expression remained uninspired as she tapped her tablet to life. “Yes. From Constantine.” She slowly scanned over their group and returned her stare to the screen. “Curator Johnson will be with you shortly. Please wait over there.”
Tom turned to see Treena clenching her fists behind him.
“So much for a welcome party,” she whispered to him as they walked toward the designated seating area. There were only four chairs, so they all stood, moving into a circle to face once another.
“I wasn’t expecting this kind of treatment. What do you think their problem is?” Tom asked.
“Well, according to Benitor, this place has been under intense scrutiny since we learned of the theft of the retired cruise ships,” Brax said.
“Not to mention the old uniforms and weapons, like the Assembly’s stolen PL-25s,” Treena added.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if our good friend Hainy over there wasn’t poked and prodded a few times herself,” Nee said, getting a laugh from Treena.
Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series Page 68
