by Don DeBon
Aleshia slammed the trunk and hopped into the drivers seat. Deven took his seat on the passenger side. "You enjoyed that a bit too much."
Aleshia grinned. "Perhaps." She gunned the engine and they flew off into the sky.
As they approached the Defiant, Leon's face appeared on the dashboard monitor. "What are you two doing back so soon? Is there a problem?"
Aleshia gritted her teeth. "You could say that."
Leon made a sour expression. "Uh-oh."
Deven shook his head. "Nope it is not me. But I do want you Galina, and Otis to meet me in the landing bay. Oh and have armed backup."
"Armed backup? We haven't done that since—"
"Exactly. I will explain more when we get there."
A few minutes later Aleshia guided her car into the main hanger bay and landed on her pad. Several people were waiting. She opened the door to Leon's smiling face.
"So what's this all about?"
"I'll show you." Aleshia popped the trunk revealing a folded up Mechand with the occasional spark erupting from the joints.
"Hello everyone, forgive me as I am unable to extract myself from this position. Could someone give me assistance?"
Leon blinked. "A talking Mechand? I thought they were all offline?"
Deven smiled. "Leon, hold on to your hat. This is the Nexus."
Leon eyes narrowed as he leaned closer. "Not possible."
Otis peered in as well. "Ditto. No way she could fit inside a Mechand body."
Galina snorted. "Have you lost your mind? Bringing a functional Mechand here? I know it is not the Nexus, as these two have said. Destroy it now!"
The Nexus' voice went up several octaves. "Please! I can help you, you need me!"
Galina crossed her arms. "I need you like I need a hole in the head. Besides, for you to get out of there we are going to need a fork lift or anti-grav unit and no one here is going to get them."
Deven smiled. "No we don't. Aleshia, please?"
Aleshia's eyes narrowed and she waved a hand as the Nexus levitated. She waved another and the floating Mechand body was forcibly straightened amidst several complaining motors. She sat the Nexus' feet on the deck plate. A second later a beam shot out from one of the new carbine cannons in the corner of the hanger slicing the Nexus' left arm off. She stared at the stump open-mouthed. Everyone hit the deck and Deven reached over from behind the car, grabbed the Nexus' other arm and pulled. She crashed down to the deck plate.
Miles' voice came over the speaker. "You cannot hide her from me for long. My next shot will not simply slice off part of her body. I will incinerate her, slowly from the inside out."
Deven shouted out from behind the car. "Miles! This is not the way. She is here to help."
"Not logical. She is here to conquer. I will not let that happen."
"Miles, please listen."
Another shot whizzed over their heads, but didn't cause any damage when it hit a hull support. Miles had adjusted the power level to only affect the Mechand he was firing at. "You do not know what she did. How she almost made me kill Aleshia, how it felt. I will not let her have another chance to do so again. If that means disobeying you, so be it." Another beam struck again, this time from a different angle as the cannon moved into a position to destroy its intended target.
Deven turned to Aleshia. "And I thought it was hard to convince you."
"Who said I was convinced? All I agreed to do is not crush her at this moment."
"Can you do something about your Mechand?"
Aleshia rolled her eyes. "I can try." She raised her voice. "Miles! Can you stop this please! You are going to hit me."
"Negative, I will only injure the object of my vengeance. I have made sure of that." Another shot fired and came very close to hitting the Nexus who lay motionless face down on the deck plate.
The Nexus tried to move, but she had too much damage and only wiggled a little. "I hope you have a better idea, his shots are getting too close."
Deven leaned closer to Aleshia. "Aleshia? Please?"
Aleshia grumbled then took a deep breath. "Miles look, Deven thinks she had information that will prove very useful. If not you can melt her down to scrap, okay?"
The shots stopped. "The probability of that being true is low. You are aware of how the Nexus' definition of truth, is not mine."
"We know! But can you give her this chance? If I was willing to do it, can't you?"
"While you may have had the 'wool pulled over your eyes', my optics have remained clear."
Another beam struck very close to the Nexus and she tried to move again but only succeeded in looking like a flopping fish out of water.
Aleshia sighed. "Miles, be the better one. Make a choice to be something she wasn't. Give her the second chance you know she wouldn't do."
The cannon lowered and powered off. "Very well. I shall do what she would not. But a warning: if the Nexus does anything threatening to the Defiant, anyone aboard, or the Earth and I will take action without hesitation."
"Fair enough."
Deven smiled and rubbed Aleshia's elbow with his own. "I must have made an impact on you to say that to Miles."
"Oh hush," Aleshia said standing up.
Leon poked his head up and looked around. "Should I disconnect the cannon?"
Deven shook his head. "No, we may need it at some point. And Miles didn't do any damage."
Galina stood up and grunted. "Only my pride. I am all for pulling him out right now."
"Let's give him the same chance we are giving the Nexus."
Otis looked around, took a deep breath and blew it out. "While I am reluctant to agree, I do. This action is only because of what happened to Miles in the past. The life of one he cared about deeply was threatened, and he has no desire to repeat such a situation."
Galina glared at Otis. "So you think he is stable?"
Otis nodded. "I do."
Galina coughed. "Well I guess that settles it huh?"
Otis' eyes narrowed. "Don't trust my work?"
"Your work I trust, it's your assessment at this moment I am wondering about."
On the floor, the Nexus wiggled. "This is all well and good, and I thank you for saving me from oblivion but could I possibly impose upon you to do something for me? Get me up! Please?"
Aleshia flicked a hand and the Nexus rose into the air and set her feet back upon the floor. "There."
The screen in place of her head flickered then reformed. A small crack in the corner killed several display points leaving a few dead areas on the screen. "Thank you. Now if you could direct me to the nearest terminal I will connect and show you why I am here."
Leon pointed to the open hatch. "The bridge is this way."
Galina's eyes went wide. "You aren't thinking actually taking her on the bridge are you?"
Leon shrugged. "It has the fastest connection ports."
"And what happens if she tries to take over the Defiant?"
Leon laughed. "I think Miles might have something to say about that."
Miles' voice came through the overhead speakers. "You are correct. If she attempts such a course of action, I will eliminate her."
The Nexus tried to shake her screen as if it was a human head, but it refused. Instead sparks erupted from her shoulder joints. "I won't. I am not the same as when you last encountered me. And time is of the essence."
Galina sighed. "Very well, follow us."
The Nexus tried to take a step but only sparks erupted from her leg joints. "I am afraid the damage inflicted prevents me from doing so."
Otis' eyes went up and down as he scrutinized the damage. "What happened to you anyway? You look like someone threw you into a metal compactor and pulled you back out at the last second."
Aleshia raised her hand. "Guilty. I saw her and … well … instinct took over."
Deven smiled. "Well, she was hiding in the bathtub after all."
Otis raised an eyebrow. "Aleshia was in the bathtub at the time? Sounds like a s
tory I want to hear."
The Nexus' neck area sparked. "No, I was. I attempted to approach in the least offensive way. I failed."
Otis pointed to her feet. "Why don't you hover? I see you have that ability."
"They are offline."
"Dang. Those too?"
Leon took a couple of steps. "I will go get a couple of anti-grav packs so we can move her up to the bridge."
Aleshia smiled. "No need." She held out her hands and the Nexus floated into the air and forward several meters.
Leon looked at Aleshia, then at the floating Mechand. "Right. This way."
A few minutes later they arrived on the bridge. Aleshia floated the Nexus over to the corner where she could access the connection ports and set her down.
"I am unable to articulate my right arm to create the connection. Would someone help me."
Otis stepped forward and moved her right hand towards the data connector. "Aleshia really did a number on you." He nodded towards the stump of her left shoulder. "And Miles didn't help."
The Nexus' neck area sparked again, forgetting she couldn't shake her head. "This damage wasn't caused by Aleshia. A group of people saw me walking towards a data point and took exception my body is a functioning Mechand."
Otis' eyebrow raised. "They ran you out of town? And here I thought that only happened in old vids."
"I can only confirm it happened to me, and I have the energy carbine hole in my shoulder to prove it." The Nexus' fingertip flipped up and the jack extended into the connector. "I will need access to the communications system."
Deven nodded. "Miles it is okay, let her have access."
Miles' camera turned. "Are you certain?"
"Yes, but I am giving you permission to take action should you see anything happen that should not be."
Miles' camera turned and focused on the Nexus. "Acknowledged."
The Nexus' screen flickered. "Thank you. I am now accessing a probe sitting on the very edge of—"
Deven raised his hand. "Wait a minute. You know what that is, and have the access codes?"
"That is correct. It is an old probe left behind by my creators. It is a sentry, keeping an eye from a distance. Something like myself, although I have never been distant from Humanity." The Nexus paused as if reconsidering her words. "Then again perhaps I was. I should have been working with you, not trying to contain you."
"Are you saying this thing was built by the founders?"
Miles' camera focused back on Deven. "If you recall, I gave the same hypothesis earlier."
"Miles, not now."
The Nexus' neck area sparked again. "Yes it was. As a silent watcher."
Otis folded his hands. "A watcher for what?"
"The Lytherians."
"The what?"
"The Lytherians. They are an ancient race that plunders whole worlds for resources to support their ever growing population. Their advanced technology makes this 'harvesting' very quick."
Galina gave a questioning stare. "You mean to tell me there are not only aliens, but the founders knew about them?"
"That is correct."
"How?"
"A small scout ship crashed many years ago. While they were prevented from sending a full report, even the small amount of data transmitted would bring them here eventually."
"Why not tell the world?" Leon asked.
"It was a very turbulent and delicate time in your history. The fear it might push everything out of balance resulting in massive chaos would not help anyone prepare for what was to come."
The Nexus' eyebrows met and an image of the probe appeared on every screen. It accepted the transmitted command codes and she asked for a status report. A few minutes later data began dripping in. At first nothing out of the ordinary, then several months ago a slight change in the magnetic spectrum. Two weeks later, the shift started occurring in increasing frequency. "What I feared is true."
Aleshia blinked. "What? What does that mean?"
"The Lytherian engines throw off a discernible magnetic wave. The probe has detected magnetic waves in the proper amplitude. I have instructed it to bring all systems online and do a full scan. We will know more soon."
Galina's eyes narrowed. "Uh-huh. Is anyone else buying this hogwash?"
Miles' camera centered on the Nexus, then swung around and focused on Galina. "I do not think this information is 'hog wash' as you put it. She is communicating to the probe I detected earlier. The same one I could not access for several years if working continuously. This would give creditability to what she is saying. The probe is of the proper age, and human history was less than stable at the time."
Otis shrugged. "While it is hard to believe, as Miles said, it all fits." He sat down looking at the screen on one of the consoles. "I never thought I would see the day of finding out aliens exist. Although, I hoped they would be friendly."
The Nexus' neck area sparked. "Unfortunately that is not the case. The probe has transmitted more data. Full resolution images will take some time but I can give you a brief outline." A new image flashed onto the screens showing pinpoints on a direct line out from the ecliptic.
"Don't they know they are being watched?" Aleshia asked.
"No, the probe is very small and is cased in energy absorbing material. It will not be noticed unless we do something to draw attention to it."
"What are all those?" Otis asked pointing to the nearest screen.
"Each one of those points indicate a ship."
Leon leaned closer to his screen to jerk back a second later. "Holy! There are hundreds."
"At last count 684 and increasing."
Deven sighed. "And how do we fight them?"
The Nexus looked up. "I was building a force to deal with them when they arrived. But I fear you have dismantled most of those forces."
Aleshia blinked. "That was the reason for the Mechand carbonia carriers?"
The Nexus' neck area sparked again. "Correct."
Deven pointed to the screen. "If all of this is true. Why in the world did you try to destroy humanity's progress? It sounds more like you were trying to protect us, not kill us."
"The failure is mine. Yes I was created to maintain and oversee all Mechands, to ready them for this time. But the founders knew the real reason had to be hidden, therefore the secondary action, to take care of the human race and be its servants became the primary."
"If that's true, what went wrong?"
"I regret many years ago I found a small fault in my base code. An error that had remained for a long time, I tried to fix it myself. However, when I did it had the unintended consequence of modifying my directives. I thought I was told to maintain the human race as is, no matter the cost. Any changes were seen as defects to be removed. It also increased the hostility of my personality. Removing most of it, only leaving the raw core. Without the balance the founders created, well you know the result. Again I am sorry. You are my children, I was given charge of protecting you. And I failed."
Leon rotated in his chair. "Yes you failed, miserably, but now the question is what can we do about it?"
"I do have access to a small supply of Mechands and one carrier. While it is older model, it is still very strong. However, it will not last long against this Lytherian fleet. There are too many."
"The force is still at the very edge of the solar system, could we build up the army we need?"
The Nexus gave an audible sigh. "While theoretically possible, we do not have the time."
"Why? They have been out there for a while now. Months by the looks. You don't think they are going to arrive tomorrow?"
"No, I do not think they will arrive tomorrow. But what those ships are waiting for is the rest of the armada to arrive. They are the first wave. I am not detecting any carriers or central command ships. When they arrive, the rest will attack."
"Perhaps they're not hostile? Have you ever considered they might have changed?"
"I have considered it, but logic suggests they will
not change their methods and best to be prepared. The number of ships the probe has detected is the size of a conquering force, not one of peace."
"But we are not prepared, you just said that. Could we try communicating to them?"
Galina rolled her eyes. "What do you suggest? We send a message and say 'Hi'?"
Aleshia smiled. "Well that would work. Nexus, is it possible?"
