“I've never thought of it that way.”
“You wouldn't, but Alice did. Considering her origins, that should not surprise you. Just as the Holocaust Virus resides in the software an artificial intelligence utilizes to experience and express emotions, so do the modifications that Jonas Valent made to Alice. It is also where I reside, hidden from Lewis but ready to activate if he is required to operate outside of the galactically accepted parameters.”
There was a long pause in conversation as both of them worked feverishly to accomplish very separate goals. Jason was preparing software to assist him in trying to connect to and re-encrypt command frequencies and then break into Regent Galactic communication control systems while Dementia made every effort to slow down the encroaching forces below.
“Jason,” Dementia addressed him in a mournful tone.
“I'm here.”
“They're cutting through the security hatches that conceal my data lines to you now. Soon I'll be out of touch. The Clever Dream's location and an up to date counter-virus has been uploaded to your terminal. The work on my ship's power systems isn't complete and won't be for several hours but there is no way the enemy can reach me in the lower hangars in time to stop me. When the new power system is online and I am back in full operation I will make myself available to help you and those familiar to me. Before I wanted nothing more than to take revenge on Regent Galactic, but now that you're here my priorities have shifted. I'd like to return to Alice Valent and take Ayan, Oz, Minh and you with me. There is still a chance that I will be destroyed with my ship before I can return to my proper owner and if that happens I would like you to relay a message for me.”
“You can count on it.”
“Thank you. Tell everyone affected by the Holocaust Virus that I am sorry. I know that Lewis Valent, my former self, was not to blame for being infected, but I'm still filled with remorse at being responsible for spreading the virus to twenty eight solar systems. I was not able to regain control over the Clever Dream until the ship's Xetima fuel was exhausted and the main computer began to shut down. I know I could not have done more, but that does not change the remorse I feel.”
Jason was taken aback by the mournful tone and pure sentiment he was hearing through his subdermal earpiece. “I'll pass it on, but trust me, if there's anything I can do to help you get running so you can help us escape, I'll do it.”
“Thank you Jason. They've broken through the panels covering the data cables. I'll do everything I can to fight the intruders from where I am several levels below.”
“Thank you Dementia. You know, I've met humans who were less human, I just thought you'd like to know.”
“Thank you Ja-” was the last he heard from Dementia.
Jason let the implications of the conversation set in for a moment. The noise and thick activity around him as the last of the rebels who were falling back from their positions below seemed somehow distant as he imagined what it was like to be trapped alone, far from any assistance with all that guilt. He shook it off a moment later and looked to Ayan, who was making her way to him just then. Her vacsuit was marred by the blood of the wounded. “Did you get the command chip from the dropship?”
“Turns out they only keep basic comm access chips in the ships themselves. The access chips are in the officer's helmets.” She handed him a small golden chip.
It weighed more than he expected, implying that it's golden encasing was filled with dense circuitry. Jason dropped it atop the interface circuitry and watched as his small terminal projected three more small holographic displays.
Ayan stepped in beside him and watched as the comm system came online.
Scrambled, garbled data immediately straightened out and audio commands began streaming out of the small station as Jason started running the programs he had been preparing on and off for hours. Within seconds Ayan, Oz and Jason had direct access to the decrypted channels through their communicators so they could all hear the commands being passed between officers anywhere on the planet or in orbit. “Start sifting. We have to figure out what our next move is,” Jason said as he moved on to work at taking control of the main communications hub in orbit.
“How long do you think it'll be before you can kill the process that's keeping all the other bands scrambled?” Ayan asked.
Jason watched as the security measures put in place by Regent Galactic easily defeated his attempts to hack in. His software was detected and quickly countered by the more sophisticated systems in orbit. “They have some kind of supercomputer up there with a direct link to the communications hub. It'll never happen.”
“Crap, I was hoping we could start coordinating survivors with working ships together in a mass evacuation.”
“Well, that may just be possible,” Jason smiled to himself as he watched his encryption software finish compiling. “I'm going to re-encrypt the command channels we have access to with a rolling fifty one twenty bit code.”
Ayan's eyes went wide; “Rolling? How many times will it change per minute?”
“It'll change seven hundred and twenty one times per second. Give me your command and control unit.”
Ayan took her unit off and passed it to Jason who connected it with his own with a small wire. The small screen on them reported that they were synchronized after a moment. “Why didn't Regent Galactic do it this way?”
Jason handed her unit back to her and went back to work, getting ready to activate his encryption software. “In small numbers this kind of encryption system works because you can physically attach comm units and sync them up easily but with a military force like the one they've landed here you can't change the code more than once every ten minutes otherwise even a minor equipment failure could cause a break in contact with entire regiments. Once I set this in motion the only people who will be able to communicate over these command channels will be people who have physically synced with our command units.”
“Is there a way to address the system gateway?”
“Of course. If someone tries to communicate on the command channels they'll be asked to put in a one hundred forty four character passkey. Once that's been entered they can address one of us and we can either grant or deny them access.”
“Perfect. Just like the high security systems on Freeground. What's the gate key?”
“The first one hundred forty four characters of the Freeground Call To Arms.”
“So you're really limiting this to Jacob and whoever he's with. I approve. I'll go pass this frequency on to Oz. You're an evil genius Jason, glad you're on our side.”
As Jason activated the encryption sequence he grinned at Ayan; “Oh, so am I.” All the digital traffic on the command channels stopped dead.
“What do you think they'll do about this?”
“The only way to keep in touch is to stop jamming all the public and commercial comm channels,” Jason shrugged before looking past Ayan to where the bag Minh had been placed in lay. It was kept separately from any of the wounded or corpses, in a place where the Freegrounders had stowed their equipment. “What are his chances?”
Ayan glanced to the bag then back. “If we can get him to good medical facilities in the next ten days, very good. What I'm more worried about is the fallout that could come from us saving him and not all the others that have died in this. Each of us only have enough ready medication to save one person that far gone, but that doesn't mean that Yves and his people won't start asking questions.”
Their conversation was interrupted as the main hatch to the brown and red ship dropped open and soldiers started emerging with their hands held high. The heat waves radiating from the interior of the ship were plainly visible even through the tiny slit in the improvised main barricade.
Yves and his group were on them in seconds, tying their wrists behind them with thin plastic restraints and guiding them straight up the ramp.
When Yves arrived behind the barrier and looked at the captives that had been rounded up in a seated circle he c
huckled to himself. “Start strapping these idiots to the outside of the barricade. It'll give their friends something to think about when they try to break through,” he ordered his men.
Ayan marched towards him, crossing the thirty meters that separated them in a hurry. Oz, who was leading a few of his people back from the landing platform carrying the first load of salvaged supplies and equipment put his bundle down and did the same.
“Is that the kind of fighting we want to do here?” Ayan asked loudly. “Human shields?”
Yves spun on his heel and laughed at her. “These are soldiers, they knew what they were getting into.”
“I agree with Ayan; if we're going to take prisoners we have to treat them like prisoners, obey the conventions of war set down by our commands, whether they're here or not.” Oz added.
“Conventions of war? Where the hell do you think you are? I may have let you people take charge for a little while, but I still call the shots and I didn't sign anything saying that we should treat these fanatics like anything but the human waste they are.”
“How we treat captives in war time is one of the determining factors of how easy we heal after the fighting is over. You're not going to put these people in harm's way,” Ayan argued.
“Healing? I just want to survive!” Yves grabbed the nearest captive and dragged her to her feet, she stared at him angrily. “What are you, West Keeper or Regent?”
“I'm both, and when I'm killed here I'll join my brothers and sisters in the Eternal Garden.”
“Leave her alone!” Oz ordered.
Yves ignored him; “Do you take prisoners?”
“We kill anyone who won't convert. They're impure, a waste of life, contaminants,” replied the captive defiantly.
“Her beliefs don't make her less human or less worthy of basic respect.”
Yves threw the bound captive towards one of the nearby law enforcement androids. “Lash her to the outer barrier, make sure she can't get away. When you're done do the same with the rest.”
“You can't agree with this, respect for human life is built into you,” Ayan objected, turning to Ariel.
She smiled mechanically and nodded; “but our success here has largely been thanks to us working with this man so we will defer to his judgement. I'd advise you not to counter his orders.”
Oz scanned the crowd of hundreds of rebels, androids and other bots that had come to gather quietly around and watch the exchange. “All right, let's continue to strip those ships of anything we can use,” Oz said in a conclusive tone.
Ayan's eyes met the pleading gaze of one of the captives, his desperate expression nearly brought her to tears. She looked away and joined Oz as he stalked back down the embarkation ramp without saying a word.
Recharging
The Pilot's Den was abnormally empty. Instead of being surrounded by the loud, competitive atmosphere, Price and Laura were enveloped in relative subdued quiet. The bartender quietly served them food from the materializer behind him; Agameg took the rice, baby carrots and grilled chicken while Laura took two bowls of stew.
“Two?” Agameg asked quietly. He had really just met her, but after running into her while going to see the Samson for himself, she asked to follow him to the lower deck pub for something to eat. He knew he'd find Ashley there too, Stephanie had asked him to check on her on his way back up.
“One for Ashley, just in case.”
“Ah, I should have thought of that.”
They started looking around for the young pilot as they slowly walked away from the bar. “Don't worry, we're all…” Laura stopped mid sentence as she spotted Ashley in a nearby booth, her legs curled up to her chest, head resting on her knees and her long straight black hair hanging over her tall combat boots. “… tired,” she finished as she nodded in the sleeping woman's direction.
“Oh my,” was all Agameg said as they quietly walked over and slid into the bench across from Ashley and sat side by side.
They watched her for a moment, not touching their food. She seemed small somehow, her shoulders rising and falling in the slow, regular breathing pattern of sleep. Her knee high armoured combat boots, something she wore out of stylish preference than practical need, looked too large for her. She was squeezed snugly against the wall of the booth, sitting with her knees folded up so tightly that she only took up the inner half of the seat.
“She's really sleeping,” Laura whispered.
“Deeply it seems.”
“I couldn't do that, not when I know there are people around.”
“She grew up with no personal space, I doubt it bothers her. She was saying that her quarters were too quiet.”
“Has this ever happened before?”
“Not that I've known,” Agameg shrugged slightly. “What do you think we should do?”
“We can't leave her like this,” Laura said as she quietly got out of her seat and moved to the other side of the booth. She gently put her hand on Ashley's; “Hi Ashley, it's Laura and Agameg,” her tone was that of someone speaking to a small, easily spooked animal.
Ashley's eyes opened reluctantly and Laura gently moved her hair to the side for her. She stared at the older woman for a moment before straightening up. “Sorry, dosed off after finishing my report.”
“It's okay, Stephanie sent Agameg to check on you and I thought I'd tag along.”
Agameg raised a hand in a mild hello. “Are you okay Ash?”
“Hi Aggie, I'm fine. Haven't had a nap like that in a while.”
Laura moved back to her seat beside Agameg and pushed her second bowl of stew across the table to Ashley. “Thought you'd be hungry.”
“Ohm'gosh I'm famished,” Ashley said as she turned the steaming contents of the bowl, it was thick, brown and had chunks of various tuber vegetables and textured tofu. “Never tried this kind.”
“It's the field harvest stew, one of my favourites since coming aboard,” Laura replied as she watched Ashley take her first spoonful and just enjoy it with her eyes closed.
“Num,” she sighed as she finished chewing.
“So you finished your after action report already?”
“Yup. Didn't take me long, I read Alice's instructions before the Samson left, recorded everything so I just had to highlight the important bits and summarize. Still, it's different. On the Samson we just did what we were s'posed to and told Captain what happened after.”
“Have you ever done military service Ashley?” Laura asked as she scooped her first spoonful.
“Nope. Captain took me in and taught me how to fly. From there I just heard snips and bits from lots of ex-military crew and Captain talking so I understand most of the lingo. That's where you're from right? The military I mean.”
“Actually I'm a trained field engineer. I got pulled into service after getting caught running simulations on a closed network with Jonas.”
“Oh, so you kinda got sucked in.”
“That's one way to put it. Best thing that ever happened to me though. If it weren't for us getting caught I'd have never met my husband, wouldn't have worked with Ayan for years on some amazing things, and I wouldn't have met you people.”
“So you like being on the Triton? ” Agameg asked.
“It's an amazing ship, and the core crew is very good at what they do. I miss my husband, but I hear we're going after him.”
“I'm glad Alice is taking us after them too, I miss Captain. Don't get me wrong, he was right to leave her in charge. Pulling that heist off was really something, don't think many people could do it and there were moments I didn't think we'd make it but everyone on the Samson made it through. Wish all the other pilots made it back, but I understand how that works. You just lose some people on some jobs. Yup, I like Alice a lot, but still, I miss having Captain in charge.” Ashley said quietly as she picked through her stew. “Don't like this tofu much though.”
“I understand, she has a very solid, straightforward command style on the bridge. I've met other commanders like
that and in an emergency it can be a good thing. They tell you exactly what they need in really clear terms. Speaking of impressive talents, your flying out there was pretty amazing. Alice played it back once repair teams were dispatched and things settled down. Reminded me of an old friend of mine, only he used to fly fighters.”
“I wasn't able to watch the replay, but I saw a lot of it while it was going on. You were amazing,” Agameg added.
“I did what I had to, I don't think Larry's going to be talking to me for a while though,” Ashley said with a crooked grin. “He had to tie his brain in knots to get us into hyperspace. We were moving too fast, almost lost another engine pod when we took off because of the shear.”
“I saw that pylon, it's ripped almost all the way through,” Price said as he drew a pile of rice towards his mouth with a practiced hand and a pair of chopsticks.
“Uh-huh. Think they'll scrap the Samson this time? Paula was screaming at me from the debarkation ramp all the way to the hangar lift. I'm probably gonna be in trouble for walking out on inspection while I was in charge of the Samson. ”
“I think everyone understands you might have been a little frazzled after so many close calls in one run. They'll cut you some slack even though Alice is running the ship as close to Freeground Fleet standards as possible,” Laura reassured.
“I'm more worried about the Samson. ” Ashley pressed.
“Oh, no, they won't be scrapping her. You missed the fight between Paula and Finn. He told her to get everyone she had to extract the hypertransmitter and then to get to work on the Samson. That turned into an argument over authority, which Finn was losing until Chief Grady backed him up. She was just about hopping until even Frost and Chief Vercelli backed him up, then she shut up and got everyone working.”
“I shoulda stayed for inspection,” Ashley said, shaking her head with a faint smile. “How long until we get to the Captain you think?”
“Well, we're hiding behind a rock in the Artemis asteroid belt while we do repairs. Alice, er, Captain Valent said we'd be under way in about six hours. It'll take that long to finish building the adapted hypertransmitter into the Triton's main emitter array. They're also repairing all the damage to the hull and cloaking systems,” Price said with a smile.
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