by D. J. Holmes
“I’m sure,” Kevin replied.
“I can sense him,” Alexandra said. “In your mind, I can sense him. I don’t like it.”
Sarah was taken aback. Alexandra sounded jealous.
“And what if I am?” Alexandra asked. “You imprinted on me first. Why have you brought him here? The Hope Fivers all but imprisoned you.”
“I did imprint on you first,” Sarah replied. “And that will never change. You know they didn’t imprison me. Not really. I thought you would be happy to see me. I didn’t expect to have to console a stroppy artificial intelligence. You have accessed my memories by now, you know I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Hhmm,” Alexandra replied.
“Wait,” Sarah said as she realized what Alexandra had said. “You can sense him? In my mind?”
“Yes,” Alexandra replied. “It’s faint. But I can sense something.”
“He has a neural implant, like the new one I have,” Sarah said as a new thought occurred to her. “Can you communicate with him?”
“I think so,” Alexandra replied.
“Alexandra?” Kevin said into Sarah’s mind.
“Hello,” Alexandra replied.
“It’s good to finally meet you,” Kevin said. “Sarah has told me a lot about you and Divar.”
He almost seemed nervous. She hoped Alexandra could sense a little bit of how he felt. She didn’t want the artificial intelligence seeing him as a threat, or a rival.
“I wish I could say the same,” Alexandra replied.
Sarah groaned inwardly, Alexandra was going to be difficult.
“But I didn’t know you were coming. And so, I can only say it is good to meet you,” the artificial intelligence finished as she brightened her tone of voice.
Sarah mentally rolled her eyes. Alexandra was playing with her.
“I’m glad to hear that. I hope we can be friends,” Kevin replied.
“If Sarah trusts you, I’m sure we will,” Alexandra said. “Though if you know her history, you can’t blame me for being cautious. She doesn’t exactly have the best track record.”
“Well that is the first thing we can agree on,” Kevin said. Sarah could sense his amusement. “Though I hope you will quickly come to see I am not a Ranack. For one, I haven’t stolen a kiss.”
Sarah felt her cheeks redden. “That is enough you two. I have only just got back. What has been happening since I have been gone?”
“I think you need to talk to Divar and Jake,” Alexandra answered. “Melissa is here. She has some important news.
“Melissa?” Sarah asked, confused.
Instead of explaining, Alexandra rolled Destiny. Sarah saw Wealthy docked to Destiny’s side.
“Oh,” Sarah said. Whatever had brought Melissa to Destiny, it couldn’t be good.
*
Fifteen minutes later Sarah and Kevin stepped into Destiny’s main briefing room. Sarah had never used it before, but Divar had started using it to discuss plans with Destiny’s crew. With Sarah’s prolonged absence, there had been a number of discussions about what to do.
As she looked around the faces she nodded to those she knew. There were the three miners from Alpha Centauri, six other slaves from Berius, as well as Jake, Melissa and Divar. Two of the slaves had obviously accompanied Melissa for Sarah didn’t know them. Divar moved forward with a large grin on his face. Sarah was surprised when he pulled her into a hug.
“I’m glad you’re ok,” he half whispered. “We have been worried.”
Sarah sensed a small ball of jealousy forming in Kevin’s mind. Before she could mentally chastise him, her train of thought was disrupted by Alexandra.
“And it seems we were justified,” she said over the COM system in the briefing room.
Sarah rolled her eyes. As Hawk had been docking with Destiny, Alexandra had filled in the others on some of what she had been through. At the same time, the artificial intelligence had chastised her for some of the decisions she had made. It hadn’t helped that Sarah could sense Kevin’s amusement at the whole thing. The idea of a human being told off by an artificial intelligence seemed new to him. Sadly, it wasn’t new to Sarah.
“It’s good to see you again,” Melissa said as Sarah broke apart from Divar. The older woman pulled Sarah into a hug of her own.
“So,” Sarah said after squeezing Melissa and then stepping back. “What is going on? Why are you here?”
Melissa looked over to Divar. “Angrave,” he said. “He was at Berius. He was looking for you. He didn’t find out anything beyond the fact that you were on Berius and that you bought a few slaves. However, Melissa feared that was enough information to point him to Earth. She took Wealthy and headed to Earth herself. We were monitoring subspace and thankfully we recognized Wealthy’s subspace profile before she reached Earth. We managed to intercept her and bring her back here. Since then, we have been watching out for Klixar’s ship. Just yesterday he passed through this area of space. I’m afraid his ship will have reached Earth by now.”
Sarah froze. She couldn’t believe what Divar was telling her. Klixar and Angrave had followed her to her home planet. They could have... Sarah thought. “Earth?” she asked desperately.
“We don’t know,” Divar answered. “Everything could be ok, just as it was when you left.”
“Or Klixar could have destroyed it,” Sarah said, finishing Divar’s thought. “If he didn’t find me there, he may have just destroyed the planet.”
“We have to get back to Hope V,” Kevin said. “If Earth is still there, we need to stop Klixar. Director Simmons can help us.”
“We don’t have time,” Sarah replied. “We need to get to Earth now! Alexandra, disconnect from Wealthy and Hawk. Plot a course for earth.”
“Hold on,” Divar said as he raised his hands. “We need to think about this. There is a reason why we haven’t already gone to Earth. Destiny can do nothing by herself.”
“He’s right,” Alexandra commented. “We can’t just rush in. Hope V has the resources to help us.”
Sarah looked at all the faces in the briefing room. They all seemed to want the same thing. Yet she wanted to act. Her homeworld was in jeopardy, and it was all because of her. She had been a fool thinking Klixar and Angrave wouldn’t be able to follow her. After Ankara she had been sure she and Divar had given them the slip. Yet they had made it to Earth. What can one ship really do? Sarah asked herself as she tried to calm her impatience. She wanted to act, she needed to. Yet she needed to think. Jumping straight in wasn’t the answer. It had backfired on her too many times before. She needed a plan.
“If we go back to my great grandmother she can gather the warships from the other Hope asteroids. We can go to Earth with a fleet,” Kevin said privately to Sarah as he sensed she was coming around. “If Klixar hasn’t destroyed it yet, we have a real chance to stop him.”
“He’s right,” Alexandra said, also so that only Sarah could hear. “Divar and I have already gone through every possible scenario. If we take Destiny to Earth alone, we will just be throwing our lives away.”
Sarah tried not to get mad. She wanted to be able to think for herself. Yet she had to admit, they had a point.
“You can’t always jump in,” Kevin followed up. “I know you, you feel like you have to. But sometimes, the best course of action involves going slow, making the right preparations. My great grandmother will be able to help us.”
“But will she trust us after everything we have done?” Sarah asked.
“She has devoted her life to saving Earth. She will take us seriously,” Kevin answered. To prove that he meant what he said, he pushed his feelings toward Sarah. She could easily detect his confidence. He trusted Director Simmons with Earth’s future.
Sarah took a moment to think through what Alexandra and Kevin were saying. Then she came to a decision. “We’re going to Hope V,” she said out loud. “We need to gather a fleet. Then we’re going to stop Klixar once and for all. And if we find out he has already
destroyed Earth, then we’re going to make him regret it for the rest of his short life.”
“But how are we going to protect Earth long term?” Jake asked. “Even if we defeat Klixar and his ships. There will be hundreds more Elder ships sure to come after us.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Divar said before Sarah could answer. He turned to Sarah and gave her a feral grin. “It may come to nothing. But I’ve been thinking about that virus Klixar used against us. It almost took complete control of Destiny. Couldn’t we design a virus like that, only use it to destroy all the Elder ships in this section of the galaxy?”
“Alexandra?” Sarah asked as excitement welled up inside her. She didn’t know the answer to that question. Such an idea hadn’t occurred to her. But if it could work, Divar might have just thought of a way to beat the Elders once and for all.
“Doubtful,” Alexandra answered. “The virus worked because it came with the authority of Admiral Klixar’s personnel command codes. That is how it almost bypassed my computer defense systems. We don’t have access to those codes. Without them, it would be all but impossible for a virus to take control of an Elder warship.”
“But what if we got them? Or better yet, what if we got the command codes of an even more senior Elder Admiral?” Kevin asked. Sarah could sense his excitement. He too recognized the genius of Divar’s idea. “If we could disable the battleship in orbit around Earth. We could steal the command codes off the Admiral who controls Earth’s fleet and use them.”
“If that were possible, then it might be possible to create a virus,” Alexandra said hesitantly. “The virus could be programmed to cause an Elder warship to self-destruct. If it worked, we could use the virus to destroy the first fleet the Elders sent against us. Assuming we could first defeat the Elder warships in orbit around Earth. How would we get the command codes?”
“That’s not what I was thinking,” Divar said, ignoring Alexandra’s last question. “We could program the virus to take control of an Elder warship, and then fly the warship to another Elder planet and transmit the virus to other ships. They in turn would then fly to yet other Elder planets. We could spread the virus across a vast area of the Elder Empire in a very short time period. If the Elder’s didn’t react quickly enough. They could lose a significant proportion of their fleet.”
“That’s brilliant,” Sarah said.
“But how do we get the command codes we need?” Alexandra asked again.
Sarah fell silent for a moment as she thought of what she was about to suggest. There really was only one answer to that question. “We have to disable the battleship in orbit around Earth, board it, destroy its artificial intelligence and hack the command codes.”
“You can’t risk it,” Alexandra said. “You would have to board it in the midst of a fleet battle. Then you would have to fight your way through hundreds of Elders. Then, even if you managed to hack into the ship’s computer, it might self-destruct when they realize what you are trying to do.”
“Wait a minute,” Kevin said. “Who said anything about Sarah doing this. Someone from Hope V could lead the mission to disable the battleship.”
“No,” Sarah replied. “It has to be me. I am the only one with the skills and the experience to hack an Elder warship. It has to be me.”
“I’m not sure my great grandmother will go for that,” Kevin responded. “She won’t want to risk you.”
“Then we’ll just have to convince her,” Sarah said. “Divar, I want you to take command of Hawk. Take whoever you think you will need to help fly her. She is stealthier than Destiny. Take her to Earth and see what is going on there. Then come and meet us at Hope V. We will need up to date intel if we are going to plan a battle.”
“I’ll take Rebecca and Steve,” Divar said.
“Ok, you should leave right away. We don’t have any time to spare,” Sarah said.
“We’ll go now then,” Divar said as he turned to leave. Rebecca and Steve followed him out of the briefing room.
“Plot us a course back to Hope V,” Sarah said to Alexandra. “Disconnect from Wealthy. We can leave her and come back for her if we need her later. Let’s get going.”
“Aye, Aye, Captain,” Alexandra replied. Her pleasure at having Sarah back was evident to everyone.
*
Admiral Klixar let out a snort of relief when his cruiser jumped out of subspace and was greeted by a bright yellow sun. “So there is a star here,” he said for the rest of his bridge crew to hear. He knew some had thought him crazy for believing the intel Angrave had brought back from Berius. Klixar hated using the alien pirate. He knew his crew mocked him behind his back. Not in a thousand years had an Elder taken a prisoner. Yet Klixar had known he would need help to track his brother’s ship. Angrave had proved that more than once by now. “Status on the rest of our ships?” he requested.
As his subordinates got to work, Klixar quietly considered what the missing system meant. There has to be an explanation, he said to himself. The Elder Empire doesn’t make mistakes.
“All three frigates are in formation Admiral,” an officer reported.
“Scan for an inhabited planet. If this is where that traitorous pirate’s homeworld is, we’re going to blow it to smithereens,” Klixar followed up.
“Admiral, I think you need to see this,” another officer said.
On the main holo projector a blue and green planet appeared. The image made Klixar freeze. It wasn’t the planet that caught his attention. It was the large station in orbit around it. Without speaking, he slithered across the bridge to get closer to the holo display. There was no mistaking what he was looking at. It was a giant shipyard. He had only seen such a station around one of the ten Elder Homeworlds.
Movement caught his eye, a battleship. It was tiny compared to the shipyard. Yet its presence meant one thing. There was an Elder High Admiral in the system.
“There is something about this system,” Klixar said. “Take us in towards the battleship. I will speak with the High Admiral.”
For the next several hours Klixar studied the shipyard and the planet below it. As far as he could tell, there was nothing special about the planet. He didn’t understand why the shipyard was here, nor why the system had been removed from the galactic map. One thing had occurred to him though. Whatever was going on, he wouldn’t be able to simply destroy Sarah’s homeworld. Whatever the High Admiral was doing here, he probably wanted to keep doing it. He therefore couldn’t simply just blow up the planet. At least, not without proof that she had broken one of the Elder Empire’s foremost tenants, he reminded himself. When he found Sarah, he fully intended to prove she had been genetically engineered. It was the only explanation that made sense. There was no other way she could have imprinted with an artificial intelligence and taken over frigate MMCXXVII. Once he proved that, her species would be wiped out, no matter what a High Admiral was doing here. In the end he decided, this complication would work out for the best, it meant that when he finally got around to destroying Sarah’s homeworld, she would be able to watch. That would be the perfect revenge for what she did to his brother.
As soon as his cruiser got close enough to open a two-way COM link with the battleship, Klixar requested to speak to the High Admiral. “Ah... Eh... High Admiral Gronkin,” Klixar said to the face that appeared on his holo projector as he stumbled over his words.
The High Admiral’s face darkened at Klixar’s greeting. “What kind of way is that to greet a High Admiral,” he half barked. “Who are you?”
“Admiral Klixar, High Admiral. And may the Empire’s blessing be ever upon you.”
“How long have you been an Admiral?” Gronkin asked, intentionally not returning the formal greeting.
Klixar sucked in his overflowing belly and bowed his head as a sign of respect. “Twenty standard years,” he replied.
Gronkin actually laughed. “Twenty standard years. Is that all? I was an Admiral for two hundred years before I was promoted to High Admi
ral, and that was three hundred years ago.”
“I know your record Admiral,” Klixar responded meekly. “I apologize for my words. I was startled. I thought you were dead. After you were replaced as the commander of Home Fleet Five, everyone thought you went into retirement.”
“Ha,” Gronkin said, “I wouldn’t exactly call this posting retirement. Though it is just as boring. This is a blacklisted planet. What are you doing here?”
“I’m pursuing a stolen frigate,” Klixar said, bowing again. “I believe it was headed here.”
“A stolen frigate?” Gronkin asked. “Did I hear you right?”
“Yes Admiral,” Klixar replied. “A frigate commanded my brother was attacked by pirates and stolen. I have tracked it to this planet. I believe the woman commanding the frigate is from this world.”
