by Damon Alan
“Sir?” the medic asked.
“A brain tumor. It’s something that makes people behave badly, Doctor Jannis once told me.. Check her for it. And don’t tell anyone I asked you to do so.”
The medic looked at him like he was mad, then laughed uncomfortably. “Uhhh, yes sir. I’ll check her.”
“You think that silly?”
“Admiral Dayson doesn’t have a brain tumor, sir,” the medic replied. “She just needs to rest and maybe take a vacation. She’s overloaded, too invested in what is going on.”
He looked at the woman for a second. She seemed wise, probably knew more about the matter than he did. “I’ll defer to your expertise, but if this happens again, you’re checking.”
“Okay,” the medic said. “Deal.”
Chapter 34 - Organics
The system contained a treasure of food. One distant vessel, however, caught Sylange’s notice as she gorged on the remnants of a warship’s machine occupant.
It contained something she’d not encountered before, at least not since she’d arrived in this universe.
She tossed the broken ship in her holding arms to the side. “Children, finish this off.”
Two of her children that she was considering eliminating dove into the wreck with ferocity, since she’d so far not allowed them to feed. They penetrated chamber after chamber holding the microscopic machine essence, sweeping up the dust that spilled into space, sweeping it inside themselves to be adapted to their needs.
Her carapace flashed her amusement with their hunger, and she decided to let them survive for at least one more system attack. Maybe they’d get stronger with this nourishment.
“Stay here,” she ordered then phased away to the curious ship she noticed in orbit around the habitable planet in this system.
The strange ship was large. Longer than her body, and almost as big around. She seized it with her arms and phased away to deep space where she could study it without interruption.
There was intelligence inside, but unlike the machines, this intelligence was conscious.
This ship she held, it wasn’t a ship at all. It had no propulsion units. It carried no reactors, but simply an energy storage array to provide environmental support for the occupants. The storage levels were low, and environmental systems would fail soon.
She needed to hurry.
Segmenting her sensory arms into thin strings, she penetrated the hull. She felt herself flooded with sensory input as the arms snaked down corridors finding the organic units separated into equal numbers in boxes isolated from the other compartments. Having penetrated the length of the ship with her arms, she decided to explore one of the cubes before it was too late.
The string pierced the device covering the opening to the room with ease. Inside, a dozen organic beings huddled on the far side of the cube. Organic molecules filled the room. She lashed herself about one of the beings and separated it from the others. Other strings pierced the cube and walled off the other beings from the one she restrained. She didn’t need them interfering, the process she was attempting was delicate.
Thousand of strands separated from the string holding the creature, ready to pierce into it in order to understand its nature. It was clearly one of the dominant organic lifeforms Khala had snagged before, but this one wasn’t corrupted by the machines. Probing the interior of the creature she detected the internal communication array it carried.
Slowly, taking her time, she interfaced with it.
The emotions of the organic being rushed into her. Fear. Hate. Loathing. Despair.
The creature she’d isolated thought her one of the machines that held it captive.
The strands laced through the thing’s central control mechanism, careful not to destroy any of the sensitive connections between the cellular structures. She suspected these were the organic computer lattices that gave consciousness to the being, although she’d need more study of this species to know for sure. It appeared consciousness itself was a quantum effect within the cells of the central control unit.
The interface process was slow, but she learned it’s language even as it screamed at her internally with brutally cutting emotions.
She mapped the being’s structure. She studied everything it knew. She learned about the organics of this universe.
Then she spoke to it.
I am Sylange. I am not one of the… Hive you fear so greatly.
Terror shot through the creature in waves.
Then what are you? it finally replied.
I am a feeder, a healer. Your universe is sickening as… fourth dimension… time passes. My people will either heal this universe, or we’ll speed up its death to keep the machines -the Hive- from thriving.
Sylange sensed it relax somewhat, wanting to trust, but not sure it could. She didn’t really blame it. Apparently these organics were destined to be infected by the machines, their consciousness destroyed. No wonder they were afraid.
Human… you are named, it is Hallit. I need to know where your kind live. Can you help me?
I have no reason to trust you, it replied.
If my clan is unable to save this universe, then your kind ceases to exist. If we can save it, then you will continue as the wardens of stability here. There are so many universes, my clan has no reason to wish this one to end. In fact our goal is always the opposite. We will help you if you let us. Or even if you don’t. But chances will improve if your kind provides assistance.
An image filled her head. Of coordinates that mattered to the mathematics of the creature. She learned those as well. This creature was helpful, and she hated that it was unlikely she could save it.
I have what I need. I do not know if I can save you and the others with you.
WHY?
She began to extricate herself from the being, slowly, a few strands at a time. Several chimindiks passed as the anger directed at her slowly diminished from her awareness.
Finally she was free, the creature was leaking from a few places, but the others around it seemed to take action to aid in repairs.
She thought about the situation with frustration. In the distance Khala and the children were feeding, she could sense their joy, and occasionally their amusement as a weapon exploded near them with a large show and a flash of radiation.
Saving these beings was something she wanted to do. It would show good faith to the native consciousness, and demonstrate to the humans the benefits of cooperation.
She extricated herself from the ship, modifying the hull as she removed herself, using ordinary matter to seal the holes. She pierced the section of the ship housing the energy storage devices to see if she could interface with them.
Easy enough. Two more arms plunged into the ship, and power in the form of electrons flowed from her to the storage units. She was careful to sense the power levels, so as to not overflow the system.
There. Done.
She once more wrapped herself around the ship, more carefully now that she knew the fragile nature of the beings inside, then phased out.
Khala would not be alarmed, she was always flitting off to see some sight or another. He was used to it.
When she phased into the location the creature had given her, a planetary orb was in front of her. It was rife with machines. They must have taken this world from the organics.
She wrapped herself more tightly around the tube of remarkably non-robust beings she carried to protect them, then crashed through an orbital installation that was firing weaponry at her. The insides were filled with food, which she quickly absorbed to restore her energy to near maximum levels.
She phased again, this time to a star some distance away… the knowledge from the organic said it was eighty-four light years, that the creature had known to contain another organic civilization.
Hallit. She should use its… his name. It was a male, much like her own clan this species had a male and female component.
The new location was busy, but not with machine lif
e. She scoured the nearest ship with her sensor arms to make sure it didn’t contain any machine intelligence. And she rescanned the container she was carrying. She didn’t want to be responsible for infecting this place. Confident the container was safe, she set it adrift. The organics communicated via electro-magnetics, she sent a message to them that she believed they would understand.
“This container is full of your kind. I have rescued them from the machine entity you call the Hive. We are the Obedi. We are not your enemy. The organic life form on this container that is designated Hallit will have more information for you.”
Dropping the container, she phased out, returning to her children.
Her mother would be proud, she was sure of it.
“Where did you go?” Khala asked.
“I have much to tell you, my mate. Let’s feed, sate the children, then we will talk while floating over the dead world of our enemies.”
He laughed, then phased away. She sensed him some distance away, his carapace heating as he entered the atmosphere of the infected planet. He laughed again, and she realized he wanted her to chase him.
“You cheater!” she bellowed as she phased out.
Chapter 35 - Mentor
25 Seppet 15332
Yesterday the admiral had been in a rage after learning about the torture recording. Then, suddenly, Heinrich was informed she was resting in her cabin. It was an unusual thing that made her wonder what was happening onboard the Sheffaris.
She and Kuo decided to investigate personally. Their shuttle was docking at the destroyer even as she thought about the strangeness of the situation.
Commander Harmeen met her at the lock. “Welcome aboard, Fleet Captain.”
“Thanks,” Heinrich said, “I’m here to see the admiral.”
“She’s resting in her quarters,” Harmeen replied. “We can see if she’s taking—”
“Let me rephrase that,” Heinrich interrupted, her voice more stern. “I’m here to see the admiral. Now.”
He looked at her for a moment, she thought he might even refuse her. While that sort of courage would have impressed her, there wasn’t any refusing this demand. Heinrich had every intention of checking in on her mentor.
“This way,” Harmeen finally said after a short stare down. “If she’s unhappy, that’s on your shoulders.”
“The admiral will do her duty as she always does, I’m certain,” Kuo said. “We’re just two friends here, concerned about her welfare. We didn’t even let our pilot disembark.”
“I’ll see that food and drink is sent to your shuttle,” Harmeen offered. “Got to take care of the pilots.”
“Thank you,” Heinrich said as they got to Admiral Dayson’s hatch. She pushed the call button. “Admiral, it’s Inez. I’m here to talk, and help if I can.”
Emille Sur’batti entered the gangway from the direction of the bridge. “I’ve silenced that device. She’s asleep. You’ll need to wait.”
“I need to see that she’s okay,” Heinrich responded. “I have a duty.”
“You have a duty to serve the admiral and our people,” Harmeen reminded her. “If that means patience, then I will have someone show you to the officer’s mess where you can wait.”
Heinrich stared him down for a few seconds before relenting. “Very well, Commander. We’ll wait.”
A junior officer showed them to the mess. The time passed slowly, she was worried about the admiral. After four hours a groggy Sarah Dayson floated into the room with three adepts and two medics in tow.
“Admiral,” Heinrich said in greeting, studying her mentor.
“Inez, glad you’re here. I need you to plan an attack. And there is another thing we must discuss.”
“With all due respect, sir, you don’t look well.”
Kuo nodded his head in agreement.
“It’s the sedative. Stronger than I think I needed.”
“Have a seat, we’ll get you something to eat and drink,” Kuo said. “I think I remember your tastes.”
The command officers doted on the admiral, which Heinrich didn’t think was out of line. Their leader had taken all the life or death decisions on herself, and as each weight was added, a fall was inevitable.
“Inez, I submit myself to you for courts-martial,” the admiral said once everyone was sitting down with a plate. “I assaulted Salphan.”
“Nonsense,” Salphan protested, alongside Alarin.
Alarin quickly shared with Heinrich the mental image of what had happened.
“We’ll have a field trial,” Heinrich said. “Admiral Dayson, do you submit to my summary judgment as commanding officer of the FTL battlecruiser Michael Stennis?”
“I do,” she answered.
“Salphan, at any time that you can recall, did Sarah Dayson attack you, assault you, or otherwise physically or mentally malign your person?”
“It is me that was out of line. I raised my voice to the master of your military forces, then physically touched her without her permission,” Salphan said. “Her response was simply self-defense.”
“Admiral Sarah Dayson, do you disagree with this summary?” Heinrich asked.
“Well, that’s technically right up until the self defense part, but he wasn’t—”
“This court finds no cause for charges against Admiral Sarah Dayson to be sustained,” Heinrich said, interrupting. “Do you, Sarah Dayson, wish to have charges brought against the civilian Salphan for interfering with your military duties?”
Sarah glared at her. “Don’t be absurd. I’m in no mood.”
“This court, having been requested by a flag officer, but not finding any grounds for a continued investigation, is hereby disbanded,” Heinrich said.
“You’re all asses,” the admiral commented as she ate soup. “I appreciate what you’re doing, and I won’t dishonor your faith in me by insisting you quit making a mockery of this situation. But I was wrong. And I’m sorry, Salphan.”
“I accept that completely unnecessary apology,” Salphan replied.
“I still need you to plan an attack on the Komi,” Sarah said.
Kuo pushed a datapad across the table to the admiral. “Sir, if it does any good, we’ve used the time you’ve been ill to select what we think is the most likely target for any operation to recover your friend.”
“Oh?” Admiral Dayson said, perking up. “So you’re ahead of me on this. Good. You think we can extract her?”
“Not without cost. But if the force was volunteer only…” Kuo said, trailing off.
“Make it volunteer only, by all means,” she replied. “I don’t want to leave one of our own behind. But I’m not willing to sacrifice people for a recovery mission unless it’s something they believe in.”
“Here is a list of volunteers I’ve already gathered. It is the entire crew roster of the Stennis, including the eight hundred marines we have on board.”
The admiral’s eyes watered up, and she rapidly looked down at her soup. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You are the only one that deserves this honor,” Heinrich said, before reaching out to squeeze her friend’s hand. “Without you, we’d all be dead. At Hamor. In the depths of intergalactic space. Over Fandama. At Backwater. Time and time again, your rapid planning saved us. We owe you this, and everyone realizes it.”
“Then let’s go let the Komi know you don’t get away with mass murder of civilians, and you do not mess with our people,” the admiral responded. “What’s the plan?”
“I think that massacre was the final straw for all of us,” Heinrich agreed.
Alarin and Emille agreed.
Kuo coughed to get everyone’s attention, then once again turned his datapad toward the admiral. “This building, in Kildare, was lit when we EMPed the planet. We’ve observed it over seven missions to take ships from this system. This building is always active, has plenty of underground connections, and lots of vehicles normally used for high ranking types in and out every day. There is some comm tra
ffic indicating that VIP prisoners are being held there, although we haven’t recovered any names. Even if Sachelle isn’t there, we can certainly get our hands on the upper echelons of the Komi occupation forces, perhaps giving us leverage for a trade. Or we might even get her location from one of them.”
“You have the blueprints and a plan of attack?” the admiral asked.
“We have obtained the blueprints, although that took a bit of technical wizardry from my… I mean our,” he said waving his hand at himself, then at Inez, “navigation and weapons officer, Ensign Mors. Komi computer security isn’t as tight as you’d think.”
“Well done,” their leader praised. “And a plan of attack?”
“Major Hamden is working on that now,” Kuo said. “He’ll have it done in twelve hours, he’s promised that.”
“Major Hamden?” Admiral Dayson asked.
Heinrich spoke up. “I didn’t feel it was right to assign a Lieutenant to command the marines on the Stennis when there were higher ranking officers in the group. But I did want Hamden to command the marines. So I promoted him to Major. Temporary, unless you sign the promotion.”
Admiral Dayson laughed. “He’s the guy to choose, alright. I skipped a couple of ranks myself. It happens, I’ll sign.”
“Then we’re a go for the extraction attempt?” Kuo asked.
“It’s a go,” she replied. “Take prisoners.”
“But you’re not going,” Emille said, finally speaking up. “No offense, Admiral, but if you fell into their hands this war would be over. And the Hive would be the winners.”
“I’ll behave,” the admiral replied. “I’ve had time to think it through.”
“I’ll see to it,” Salphan said.
Heinrich’s head tilted slightly when she noticed the protective look on Salphan’s scarred face. Was that some sort of masculine protection instinct kicking in? The admiral didn’t protest his assertion, or even seem to notice it, so Heinrich stayed quiet about it.
“Inez, make it happen,” Admiral Dayson said.
“Both ships will stay at this location. The Stennis has the shuttle force to do what we need, we’ll pick those with the most combat and training experience from our contingent of marines,” Heinrich informed the group. “Captain Harmeen, I understand this ship is basically just one giant sensor. I’d like your passive sensors connected via link to the Stennis, helping me observe the strategic situation. If you need staff to get your ELINT equipment at peak efficiency, let me know.”
