by Robert Boren
“Good, I’ve got enough to keep me busy for about three more hours. We’ve made a lot of progress. Just heard from Deacon, too. He’s got the shielding installed in the Zephyrus cargo bay. We’ll be ready to hit the ground running when we get to Boroclize.”
“Excellent. Save some energy for me later.”
JJ laughed. “Yeah, you too.”
Sondra walked in. “I was in the neighborhood when the message hit my PA.”
“Good, ready to start?”
“Of course,” she said. I took her to the storage room, found her size with Butch’s help, and left the room so she could dress, telling her not to zip it all the way up until she came out into the main room.
“It means Queen of the Earth,” Sondra said, walking out of the storage room. “I’m ready to zip up.”
“Good. You know about the suit fitting itself, I’m sure. Go ahead.”
Sondra zipped up the neck, the suit tightening in an instant, a look of panic washing over Sondra’s face for a split second.
“Wow,” she said.
“You’ll get used to it quickly,” I said. “You can see the Nano choices?”
“I can,” she said, starting to calm down.
I watched as Sondra worked her way through the Nanos, and then tried the low-speed enhanced movement.
Sondra finished and left, Skip showing up a moment later. His training went well, as did Andrea’s. By the time they were done, I was tired and hungry.
My PA buzzed. I looked down, expecting JJ’s face, but saw Vermillion’s face instead. “Uh oh.”
“Mr. Chairman, how are you?” I asked.
Vermillion smiled. “You look tired. Been working with the Nanos all day?”
“I’ve been working others in the cell through the training. We’ve got the bridge crews of the New Jersey and Zephyrus done, and will be doing the Tristar crew and the fighter pilot squadron leaders tomorrow. Want me to come over and give you a full report? I know more about the capabilities now.”
“I do want you to come over, but I’ve got things to tell you about. You can give me the cliff-notes version of the Nano capability too, but it’s not as important. I’ll let you handle those details as you see fit.”
“Roger that. Your office?”
“Yes, please. See you in a few minutes.” Vermillion’s face disappeared from my PA.
“Well, duty calls,” I said.
I made the switch, the suit feeling in need of adjustment when it tightened, the arms and legs not bothering me as much as the feet and hands. JJ buzzed my PA when I got to the transport station.
“Hey, honey, you about done?”
“Hi, JJ. I’m done with the training, but I’ve been summoned to Vermillion’s office. I’ll let you know when I’m done. Did Emerald ask you to put on the other suit?”
“She did. I can use the one I took back to my stateroom. She said to keep the helmet I’ve got there and bring it to training tomorrow.”
“Good, makes sense. How’s the refinery system coming?”
“We made more progress than I expected today,” she said. “Did the training go well?”
I got into my tin can. “It did. I’ll tell you all about it when we get together. Can I buzz you when I get out of the Chairman’s office?”
“You’d better. Talk to you later.”
I smiled to myself as the tin can sealed and took off, my mind popping back to the prior night.
Vermillion was in his lounge, not his office, and he summoned me there when I arrived.
“Drink?” he asked. “I’ve got some very good Bourbon.”
“Sure, I’ll take a little, thanks.” Vermillion poured me a glass from the cut-crystal decanter. I took a sip. “Wow, this stuff is smooth.”
“It’s from 2128,” Vermillion said. “Best I’ve had in a while.”
I sat on the couch facing his chair. “What’s on your mind, sir?”
“Well, the easy stuff first. No problems at any of the production facilities. We’re ahead of schedule at all of them, and Tac is ahead of schedule on fuel refinement, too.”
“That’s excellent. What’s the bad news?”
Vermillion got up to pace. “Well, it isn’t bad news yet. Just a cautionary comment from Drake.”
I swallowed hard, trying to hide it.
“Don’t worry, Captain, you didn’t do anything wrong. Drake seems to think it’s unlikely that the Overlords can really track us through a jump.”
I nodded my head.
“You too?” Vermillion asked.
“I came to that conclusion yesterday, and have been rushing through the Nano training as a result.”
“Why the rush?”
I paused, collecting my thoughts for a moment. “I want to turn Butch loose to monitor for any outgoing transmissions. We’re both afraid our attempts will be discovered. I’d prefer to have my core team in the best fighting trim possible before we tip our hand.”
“Drake had the same concern. Who’s done so far?”
“The bridge crews of the New Jersey and the Zephyrus, including JJ and Andrea. Tomorrow I’m working with the Tristar bridge crew, and the fighter squadron leads. After that comes the rest of the fighter pilots.”
“Is th
at going to be all?” Vermillion asked.
“That’s all I’ve been given permission to provide the AI capability to, sir. An order is an order.”
“Once we get past this, we can expand,” Vermillion said, “but for now, I think this is the safest way to go.”
“There is one thing that worries me, sir.”
“What’s that?” Vermillion asked.
“You, sir. I don’t want you to become a target, if our suspicions are correct.”
Vermillion stopped his pacing for a moment. “You want me to get an AI and go through the training too.”
“Well, either that, or you need a bodyguard with that capability,” I said.
Vermillion sat on his chair. “I don’t want to go through the training. I’m a guest on this ship, and for certain legal reasons, that needs to remain the situation. We can make a good case for training members of the crew in this technology. Training me or other civilians? That’s gonna be a concern to the Central Authority. Which reminds me. JJ needs to become an officer on the New Jersey. Give her a rank of Ensign and put her in charge of the refinery team.”
I chuckled. “That’s not a very high rank for her capabilities.”
“She can’t be working directly under you, Captain. We both know why.”
I nodded. “Good point. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“Any new info about Devonia Axiom or the Central Authority coup attempt?”
“People are being indicted left and right,” Vermillion said. “Government employee union protections are being pushed aside, and the unions are fighting back. It’s a mess. At least they’re making some progress getting the Overlord agents out of the bureaucracy.”
“There’s bad news too, though, isn’t there?”
Vermillion got up and paced again. “I don’t know if we can trust the Prime Minister.”
“You don’t think he’s in with Simone?”
Vermillion chuckled. “Lord, no. I think he might take advantage to consolidate his power, and perhaps to increase the power of the executive branch yet again.”
“Oh. Politics.”
“Never take politics lightly, Captain. Remember how the Overlords used politics. Didn’t work for them, but that might have been as much due to bad timing as anything.”
I nodded. “Point taken, Mr. Chairman. Who could I assign to be your bodyguard?”
“Pick one of the fighter pilots. It’s only until we’ve either captured the plants or determined that the Overlords really can track us in a jump, right?”
“Right. Once we’re finished with that, we’ll be in a position to trust the crew, hopefully, and we’ll be expanding our Nano-capable forces as well.”
Vermillion sat down again. “Good, we’re on the same page. What were you going to tell me about the training?”
“Well, it’s going well so far, and we’ve started working with the speed enhancement technology.”
Vermillion grinned. “Drake figured your AIs would tip you off on that.”
“It’s amazing, sir. Flat out amazing. In the fastest mode, you can’t even see us move. We disappear from one spot and reappear in another.”
“So I’ve heard. If we do have some evil-doers on this ship, they won’t last long.”
“Assuming they aren’t similarly equipped,” I said.
“They shouldn’t be. Drake invented most of this stuff over the last six years. The concepts haven’t even been in the technical journals yet.”
“I don’t suppose we can continue my training with Drake using the holographic system?” I asked. “While we’re still in the jump, that is?”
“He’s got his hands full right now,” Vermillion said. “He might not be ready for you even when we come out of this jump. How long will it be, anyway?”
“Nolan gave me an updated span. Two and a half weeks instead of three weeks.”
“Excellent. Any change on the impulse cruise?”
“Three weeks instead of four,” I said, “but the four was just a rough estimate.”
“Good, then I’ll get back to work,” Vermillion said. “Let me know if you run into trouble.”
“Of course,” I said, getting up to leave. “Talk to you soon.”
Vermillion nodded, and I left the lounge, heading to the corridor. I buzzed JJ.
“Good, you’re out,” she said. “Me too. I’m in my stateroom, getting ready to change into the full suit. Shall we go grab a bite?”
“Yes, I’ll come pick you up after I’ve freshened up a bit.”
“See you soon, honey.”
I ended the call.
I paused. “You’re worried.” My stateroom door slid aside when I got there. “Home sweet home.”
I set my helmet down on the table, and kicked off my shoes, plopping down in a chair.
I shook my head. “Butch. You’re kinda pushing it, aren’t you?”
I sighed. “You’re right, that’s the only scenario that makes sense. I’d sure like to know who Drake is.”
I chuckled. “Did Emerald tell you that?”
I got out of the chair and washed my face at the sink. The excitement of seeing JJ again was building in me, as I put my shoes back on my feet, wiggling my toes for a moment. The hands and feet in the full suit still felt strange. The rest of the suit was fine, even the legs and arms-in fact the legs and arms felt more secure, building my confidence. I left my stateroom, going across the hallway to JJ’s door. I was about to buzz her with my PA when the door opened. JJ was inside, smiling at me.
“Emerald told me. She’s a big help in so many ways.”
“Yeah, Butch had a choice comment or two about that.”
>
She eyed me, not sure whether that was good or bad.
“Oh, crap, what now?” JJ asked.
{ 18 }
Rush Training
J J and I looked at each other.
“Did you stop it, Butch?”
“Do we know if they’re expecting a return message?” JJ asked.
JJ glanced at me. “How?”
“Can you tell the approximate source from the ship?” I asked.
“That’s what they’d see, correct?”
“What if they have a bomb planted on this ship someplace?” JJ asked.
I shook my head. “Not likely. Hard to get explosives on board.”
“With all the stuff we’ve got on this ship, a good chemist could cook something up,” JJ said.
“I was just gonna mention that,” I said. “We can’t do anything about this until tomorrow or the next day.”
“We’ve got eight trained Nano fighters,” JJ said.
“True, but I’m the only one who’s had the balance of the speed training, and we need our trainees wearing full suits, too. We’re not ready.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” JJ said.
