by C. T. Phipps
“So does that make me a flying ace?” Judith said, smirking.
“You’d only qualify as a gunner and you need four for that,” I said, smiling.
We were almost home free.
That was when the alarms blared again, and it was clear we were now being locked on by a full dozen Phoenix-class starfighters. Killing three of their comrades had officially moved us up from the Commonwealth’s secondary objective to full on their shit-list.
“I am open for suggestions,” I muttered.
That was when Ida called up from the back. “If you don’t mind me helping, I may have an idea.”
“Not going to turn down any help here, Jump Yaga,” I said, pushing the gunship forward at top speed toward the Melampus. That ship wouldn’t be able to help with us and I didn’t intend to bring it into our fight, but I was running out of options.
“Oh, I’m an ogress now, am I?” Ida joked.
“I’d like to go on record now as saying I blame you for all this,” I said. “Zoe, the FSA, everything. Now help, please.”
“Because you asked nicely,” Ida said.
That was when almost all of the lights on the ship went out and came back red without affecting the engines.
Judith stared. “I’m blind now. What’s going on?”
“She pulled out a shit ton of wires,” William said. “Which I let her do because I was thinking we were about to die.”
“Old pirate trick,” Ida said. “I just pulled us off the battle network and silenced our transponder code. They’ll be able to find us with their intensive scanners, but I think that should give us a bit more time to get away.”
Sure enough, a group of Engel-class fighters moved to engage the Phoenix fighters and the two immediately devolved into a dogfight. I briefly took a moment to appreciate how well-trained the Free Systems Alliance fighters were even as they managed to tear through our opposition. It wouldn’t protect us should the newcomers decide we were the enemy too, but our foes would hopefully delay each other long enough to get us the hell out of there.
“Thank you, Ida,” I said, watching us coming at the Melampus. We only had a minute before it reached the jump beacon and we were officially screwed.
“You’re welcome,” Ida replied. “I’m still not letting you take my ship.”
“I’m still not letting you get away with betraying us for torture at the hands of my insane sister and Clarice’s cousin.”
“Don’t forget the arm,” William said.
“We’re not forgetting the arm!” I called back.
“Or the money!” William said.
“That too!”
Ida surprised me by saying. “That’s a fair cop. All right, just drop me off at the nearest star base and we’ll call it square. I’m going to probably come to you guys for a favor in the future, though.”
“That’s the opposite of calling it square,” I said, tapping the communications system. “This is the gunship Peregrine calling the Melampus. Please stand-by for boarding. Captain… Mass is on board along with the former captain, Ida Claire, First Mate Baldur, Security Chief Rin-O’Harra, and Doctor Hernandez.”
No response.
“So, what are the chances of them jumping out without us?” Clarice asked, looking over at me.
“With the fact he just mutinied and claimed the captaincy?” Ida said. “About fifty-fifty. I have a pretty loyal crew.”
“How loyal would they be if they knew you were the High Watcher?” Judith called back. “Also, responsible for getting dozens of crew members killed in accidents over the years working for the Commonwealth?”
“It depends how much they’re paid,” Ida said.
“We’ll pay more,” Judith said.
“I like you, Little Light Fairy Girl.”
“Little—” Judith started to say, her avatar’s expression appalled.
That was when the Melampus signaled us to dock with its starboard side. We’d have to abandon the gunship since we didn’t have the docking clamps necessary to bring it with us into jumpspace, which was a shame since it would bring in a fair price, but I didn’t hesitate to do so anyway.
Moving us up against the old Starlight-class star galleon, I felt the ships magnetically seal themselves together as the airlocks joined. “All right, everyone out!”
“Grab some weapons, too!” Clarice said. “Anything which looks valuable.”
I shook my head and chuckled. Clarice had reverted to her mercenary instincts with recent events and I didn’t blame her. That and all of the advanced weaponry on board would fetch a high enough price to convince the crew not to space us.
Judith retreated back into my cybernetics before William, Isla, Clarice, and our prisoner departed through the airlock into the Melampus’ cargo bay. Of the group, only Isla and Clarice were carrying loads of rifles. I’d settled for picking up a crate of Thermic grenades which sold for more and could blow a hole in a starship.
Unfortunately, any elation I felt was quickly deflated as I saw two dozen black Durandal armor-wearing troopers and thirty Chel stealth troopers present on the other side. Standing in front of them was Zoe in Judith’s body. She had a pistol in her hands pointed directly at me. They must have secured the Melampus before it had left space dock, making their own escape from the Water Palace when things had gone south.
“Hello, brother,” Zoe said. “Welcome aboard.”
“Well, shit,” William said, summarizing everyone’s feelings.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Outmaneuvered again.
Looking at Zoe wearing Judith’s skin or, at least, a bioroid sculpted to appear as Judith, I couldn’t help but wonder why I’d ever tried to befriend my siblings. Thomas, at least, had been a man who’d loved his family despite his job. He’d been a monstrous torturer, murderer, and worse but I’d never doubted he had my back.
Zoe only cared for herself.
She pointed at the airlock behind us with her pistol. “Trooper One, detach the gunship and inform the acting captain to take us into jumpspace. It’s not going to take the Commonwealth long to realize I’m here and I’d rather not trust this ship’s shields.”
“Yes, General,” a trooper a head taller than the others replied.
“General?” Ida asked, raising her hands in a very reluctant display of surrender. “Moving up in the world for a clockwork clone.”
Zoe looked like she was debating having Ida tossed in the gunship before it was detached. Thankfully, the troopers just sealed the doors shut and removed our weapons. The docking clamps made a clanking noise as the gunship was let loose and, moments later, the Melampus entered jumpspace. We were safe from the Commonwealth and Free Systems Alliance but now at the mercy of my deranged sister.
“Have a care, Ida, loose lips make for short lives,” Zoe said, placing her hands on her hips and surveying us with a triumphant gaze.
“Got a plan here, Cass?” Judith asked in my head.
“No,” I muttered. “Not a one. I’m going to have to wing it.”
“Yeah, because that’s worked so well so far.”
I stepped in front of the others, watching the Chel and power armored troopers lift their weapons higher.
“What’s happened to the crew?” I asked, taking a deep breath. “Are they all right?”
“They’re fine,” Zoe said, smiling. “I brought two hundred troopers on board and it turned out the Melampus’ crew weren’t interested in fighting for their ship. We’re going to take them to Chel space, unload our prisoners, and then give them all an offer to continue working for the resistance against the tyrannical Commonwealth.”
Janice hissed through her gag, clearly wanting to be let loose.
Zoe turned her pistol to her and shot the crime boss in the face. Janice slumped on the ground, her beautiful face deformed by the blast. It was a pointless act of cruelty, like so much else done that day.
Clarice dropped her guns and would have charged at Zoe if not for William grabbing her.
<
br /> “Not now,” William whispered. “I’ve lost enough loved ones today. I don’t want to lose you, too.”
Clarice looked at him, surprised.
I was surprised, too, but I shouldn’t have been. William had always treated Hiro like a kid brother. Finding out he was a spy didn’t change all of those feelings overnight. Hell, the fact that Clarice and Ida were here with us was a testament to that.
“Not ever, Mister Baldur,” Zoe said. “Your continued survival from this moment depends entirely on pleasing me.”
“Janice was on the FSA’s side,” I said, still stunned by her display of violence. Had Zoe always been like this and I’d just been blind to it or was her bioroid version substantially different from the original? I couldn’t tell. I’d been blind to many realities of Crius’ noble system and how it warped those it raised. Myself included. “Why?”
“In twenty-four hours, Shogun will be under the direct control of the Free Systems Alliance and liberated from the control of the O’Rin-Ishi Syndicate. We will purge the remainder of the organized crime from the planet’s government and show the liberation of the planet’s slaves as a sign of our benevolence.”
“And then turn the bioroid manufacturing plants to producing technicians, engineers, crew members, and soldiers for your army,” I said, guessing at her next move. “Probably souped-up with your cybernetics.”
The Slaver’s Planet was full of countless surgical centers, cybernetics research facilities, and programming centers. Those could be easily converted into locations to outfit regular human beings with cybernetics to turn the least physically capable soldier into someone capable of standing toe-to-toe with the Commonwealth.
Add in all of the newly-erected Ares Electronics factories and they could produce a surplus of individuals to carry on the fight against Albion and its colonies. Not enough to defeat the Commonwealth, but certainly enough to fight it.
The fact the Chel would be manufacturing weapons and armaments to outfit these new soldiers meant they’d acquired a substantial tactical resource. Worse, Zoe was one of the few women in the galaxy smart enough to coordinate all of the restructuring necessary. She also had no hesitation in cloning her mind as many times as it took to outfit this army. I wondered if her original self had known this would occur or if she’d unwittingly released a monster who would get her executed by the Watchers.
I found myself not caring.
Zoe smiled. “You know me so well. Cassius Mass, the Fire Count, always trying to be one step ahead of everyone else and all you manage to do is knock over the board. It’s sad in a way. You could have been so much more, brother.”
There was an uncomfortable shuffling of feet and weapons among the troopers as they heard the word brother. Zoe seemed oblivious to it, so I gently set down the grenades in my hands and proceeded to remove my helmet, showing them I was Cassius Mass. That caused an even bigger ripple among them. They had no way of realizing I wasn’t their commanding officer, my doppelganger, and the man Zoe had created in a laboratory somewhere.
“Careful,” Judith said in my head. “Some of your loved ones were created in a lab, too.”
“It’s a little too early to joke about that, I thought back at her. I’m still not sure where we stand or how I feel about all this.”
I loved Judith and wanted to love her reincarnation, but life wasn’t fair. It didn’t give gifts like dead loved ones back or give us more time with those we cared for, no matter how much we wanted it. That was reserved solely for the Creator and he had made it a personal point to screw me over.
Like almost everyone else I’d known.
“Sorry, Cass, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Judith’s words were slightly off though. “I’m just trying to control the white-hot rage I’m feeling for the woman who murdered me.”
Right.
That.
“Is that your definition of freedom?” Isla said, removing her own helmet. “Building a slave army to fight and die for your ridiculous cause?”
“Military bioroids are banned by interstellar treaty,” Zoe said, shaking her head as if talking to a small child who just said something very stupid. “But their widespread use will change the nature of humanity in this war. It will provide us and the Chel the necessary military might to force the Commonwealth to adopt them as well. Once all sides make use of transhumanist weapons, it will change the course of human destiny.”
“No matter how millions die,” I said.
Zoe said, “Billions of humans die every day. That’s what humans do. The only way to stop it is to make humans who don’t.”
“Lady, you are just as crazy as a bag full of nightcats,” William said.
“Troopers,” Zoe started to say. “I want you to kill—”
I interrupted. “I saw the Elder Marker’s contents, Zoe. I know what the Nobility is doing in the galactic core.”
“Ida, what is he talking about?” William asked, keeping his hands up.
“Son, I have not the slightest idea,” Ida said. “I have no idea what’s going on, with who, or why. Which is an unusual state for me.”
“You must find it refreshing,” William said.
“Not really,” Ida said.
“So you saw,” Zoe said, smiling. “Now you understand.”
“Not quite,” I said. “How did we get here?”
“They wanted me to examine many things during the last days of the war. Artifacts extracted from dead worlds and places the Elder Races had spread their legacy. Items Prince Germanicus had traded from Gorro warrior-monks and Ketros smugglers. The Archduke had contact with aliens who had every bit as much interest in discovering the secrets of the Core as the Commonwealth’s Watchers. I bartered my knowledge of these items to guarantee my safety.”
“And used it to make sure your bioroid would be sent here to continue your work. Does Thomas know?”
“They all know,” Zoe said. “Every faction of this war believes the only way to survive the coming storm is to fight or submit. Each side wants to tear itself apart, unaware that’s exactly what the Nobility want.”
“What’s your solution?” I asked.
“Transform,” Zoe said. “You’ve seen what we’re up against. You know what we have to do.”
I didn’t actually disagree with her statement. Humanity was hopelessly outmatched the same way the Archduchy had been outmatched by the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth by the Community, and the Community by the Elder Races. We needed to change the variables to survive, and Zoe had a solution. It was an insane solution but a solution. She wanted humankind to play along with these wars until we were ready to become like them. I admired the audacity of the vision even as I believed it was too monstrous to stomach. Also, it wouldn’t work. The Nobility wouldn’t let humanity join their ranks unless they wanted to. They’d struck us down at our most powerful with the modification of the Cognition A.I. I knew Judith would never believe me if I tried to argue that.
She was too committed to her vision.
Programmed to be, perhaps.
“What’s going to happen?” I asked, staring at her. “With the Battle of Shogun won, I assume.”
“War,” Zoe said. “We’ve had to accelerate our position considerably, and we’re not in the best place to dismantle the Commonwealth as we would have been with the Cognition A.I. and Elder Technology. A year’s more preparation and we would have burned Albion and plunged this galaxy into a state we could easily mop up. But, I think it’s time you made your choice. Do you surrender and join the winning side or serve the enemy?”
“Judith?” I thought to her.
“Yes?”
“I have a plan.”
“I’m horrified.”
“Go with it.” I projected it to her.
“You, mad beautiful bastard.”
“I’m sorry, Zoe.” I closed my eyes. “The elves whistle a song of peace and harmony.”
Zoe’s bioroid body seized up and there was a moment of intense pain across her fa
ce before she stumbled forward.
And Judith once more opened her eyes inside that body.
“Then I surrender to you, Captain Mass,” Judith said, clearing her throat. “Gentleman, you should obey General Mass. I’ve made a terrible error and overstepped my authority and will submit myself to judgment at a secret location.”
“Wait, what?” William said.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Trooper One said.
“Do what you’re told, soldier,” I said, looking at him. “I’ve done my time here.”
The Trooper could have ruined the plan then and there, but he was Crius-born, I could tell, and he believed in my legend.
Also, Zoe hadn’t given him proper preparation for encountering a man who looked exactly like his organization’s commanding officer.
He saluted. “Yes, sir. We’ll follow your instructions exactly.”
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” William asked.
“Secure Ida in a security cell and Judith in quarters,” I said, looking around. “The others are working for me and should be given free rein of the ship. I’ll explain everything, but we’ll need to change our coordinates and get your men back in the fight.”
Trooper One nodded. “I understand, sir.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you think this is going to work?” Judith mentally asked, still in my mind, as the others were released, and their weapons were returned.
“It depends on my ability to lie,” I thought back to her.
It turned out I was very good at lying.
Epilogue
Two days later, I went to visit Ida in her cell. It was decorated with a comforter, quilts, a table, a tea set, and other amenities which had been thoroughly screened to avoid anything like spare guns and spy equipment.
I’d thought Clarice was being paranoid when she made a point of searching but the captain’s room was full of that kind of thing. I’d also made sure Hunk-A-Junk was kept from her as the mech surprised me by trying to rescue her three times. After the fourth time, he’d come clean with why we had to release her. That had been an eye-opener.
