by Frank Carey
Varn turned at the sound of the room's door hissing open. He watched as a young woman, her auburn hair tied in a military bun and her tail wrapped around her waist, entered. "Capt. Elondra, what news do you bring?"
"Sir, Stronghold is inbound and should dock in ten minutes. Dr. Terfial is aboard and unharmed," she reported.
Varn smiled. "Thank you, Talia. Any word on the number of survivors?"
"Thirty-five hundred including engineers, scientists, crews, and several hundred children who were visiting Citadel on school field trips."
"Thank the stars. Has Dr. Leetus been advised?" Varn asked, knowing that those children would have to be his first priority.
"Yes, sir. Arrangements are being made to shelter and care for them across the fleet."
"What about wounded?"
"Amazingly, there are none. Rafe and Dr. Terfial made sure of that when they hit the panic button. All modules are accounted for and have been stored aboard Stronghold."
"What is the fleet's status?"
"Functional. All stations manned, and all ships ready for whatever you throw at them. The one question on everyone's mind is what do we do next?"
"Have a seat," Varn said as he sat down. “Talia, I want your honest opinion."
She sat down and waited.
"I want to have the fleet follow Harvest Moon and commandeer her when she arrives at Keystone."
"Do you think that's where he’s heading?"
"Yes. The security sats tracked him as Harvest Moon entered hyperspace. He's following the same course Opal took when she disappeared: Straight to Keystone."
"Can't we stop him en route?"
"Not while he's got the Harvest Moon in hyperspace. We may have a chance when he drops out."
"May have a chance? We have a fleet of over one hundred ships including two carriers, Stronghold, and Citadel."
"And Harvest Moon is five miles in length and has enough fire power to blow a planet to hell. Our hole card is Chasm. Chrome and Harvest Moon have been conditioned to respond to his commands."
"At least we'll be facing Chrome while orbiting a deserted planet."
"Yes. At least we have that. I just wish we knew why he attacked crystal."
"You want my honest opinion, sir? I think your plan is sound. There's nothing for us here. Keystone is the first planet we have found which can be ecoformed to our specifications, and we will find others."
"Thank you, Captain."
There was a knock at the door followed by a group of people entering led by Dr. Terfial. She ran up, jumped into Varn’s arms, and kissed him for a very long time. Finally, she pulled back with tears in her eyes. "Chrome killed the whole planet," she whispered.
"Yes, he did, but we're still here. We outnumber him thirty-five hundred to one."
She buried her head in his chest and said, "Yes, there is that."
"Darling, can you tell us what happened? All communications with Crystal stopped around the time you were scheduled to bring Chrome on-line."
Alaina, with help from Rafe and the crew of Stronghold, recounted what had happened. When she finished, she fell into his arms and wept, the exhaustion taking over. Varn motioned to an aide and said, "Take the doctor to my quarters and see that she rests, for we all have much to do."
"Yes, sir," the aide said as she gently took the doctor and led her out of the room.
"Something is very wrong here," Varn said. "I don't think that was Chrome who woke up in the lab. Pull the log tapes from Alaina's pod and send them to cybernetics for analysis."
"Yes, sir," Rafe said.
"The rest of you are dismissed. Craig, stay a moment, please."
"Sir?" Craig asked as he watched the others leave.
"Craig, would you be willing to enlist?"
"Sure, what would I be doing?"
"Same thing you were doing. I need you to coordinate flight operations for the fleet."
"What about your current controller?"
"We don't have one. The other ships were sort of winging it. Our previous Admiral was a sort of a hands-off kind of Admiral. She preferred to command from a distance."
Craig rubbed his face with his hands. "She was on Crystal, wasn't she?"
"Craig, everyone in charge was on Crystal."
"I see," Craig said. "Can I draft people?"
"Sure."
"Good. I can use launch operations to run things, and I already have a staff. Get me a list of where you want people and when, and we'll do the rest."
"Thank you, Craig. I only hope I can find more people like you and your crew. I'll have my aide draw up paperwork for your commission and commissions for your crew. There is one more thing," Varn said.
"Yes, sir?"
"I need you to record a message for Chasm. He is scheduled to file a report when he reaches Keystone. I want you to tell him what happened here and that we're coming way ahead of schedule."
"Aye, sir. Damn, what a way to wake up."
###
Craig walked into the empty control room and sat down at his console. After a moment of thought, he hit the record button. "Chasm, this is Craig. If you're hearing this message, then I have to assume you made it to Keystone. Things have changed, dramatically," he said, before launching into the telling of the death of Crystal. "Chasm, Chrome, and Harvest Moon are on your ass. Dr. Terfial thinks Chrome has gone off the deep end, so be careful. We're pulling together all military and civilian assets that escaped. Once the fleet is ready, we will be heading your way. I wish I could do more. Craig out."
Satisfied with his work, Craig downloaded it into four beacons before sending them off to the edge of the system where they would wait for Chasm's signal. He then sat back and stared at the view screen.
"Craig!" Nora yelled as she stormed into the room, interrupting his musings. "Are you responsible for this?" she said while waving a sheaf of papers at him.
"What is that?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
"I've been drafted," she said. He opened the envelope and read the papers.
"Hmmm, lieutenant. Nice. Are you going to do it?"
"You're behind this, aren't you?"
He smiled. "I need you, Nora. You're the best damn assistant anyone could ever have. We've got more than a hundred ships and thirty-five hundred elves heading into the unknown, and it'll be up to us and our crew to keep the chaos at bay. You game?"
"Aw hell, boss, when you put it that way," she said as she took the papers back and signed them. "What about you?"
"I signed my papers on my way here. I am now a Commander in the Crystal Space Navy."
"So, a new master list?"
"Yep. We have a fleet to wrangle."
"Copy that," Nora said as she got to work. "Thanks, boss. It's good to get back to work."
And forget about the horror we're leaving behind, he thought to himself.
###
The head of the Fleet Cybernetics Division was about to sit down to a cup of coffee when the intercom signaled an incoming call. "Go for Lester."
"Les, this is Rafe. I need you to check-out some log tapes stat."
"Rafe, you made it! Thank the Gods. Yeah, send them down, and I'll get to them immediately. What am I looking for?"
"Who were Alaina and I talking too when we reactivated Chrome."
"Shit. OK. Give me an hour," Lester said.
"Got it," Rafe replied as he sent the data.
An hour later, Les walked into Rafe's office and shut the door behind him.
"What did you find?" Rafe asked.
"It wasn't Chrome. Chrome’s signatures were there but the personality structure was all wrong. I ran a psych profile and this dude is as nutty as a fruitcake. Whoever it is, they hate corporeal beings."
"Did you run it past the AIs?"
"Yep, and after the initial shock, they denied knowing anything about our new friend. They're checking with their archivist to see if she knows anything."
"It killed billions of elves."
"It has a l
ot of hate. I don't doubt it will kill anything living it comes across."
"Shit. OK, put together a briefing for Varn and..."
Les handed Rafe a notebook.
"OK. Get back to your AI friends and pump them for anything they could possibly know about this. One thing more."
"Shoot."
"Opal was linked to Chrome when she disappeared..."
"I'll get my people running simulations. I'll let you know what I find."
Les walked out, leaving Rafe to read his report before contacting Varn.
###
Varn read the report for a third time before setting it down. Talia and Rafe stood patiently in front of desk. "Rafe, how is this possible?"
"Imagine an elf who is so traumatized, they develop a second personality which takes over from the primary then years later the primary returns. Two separate personalities which never meet, each possibly not even knowing the other exists and each activated by trauma."
"Undetectable by outside tests?"
"When they're dormant? Yes."
"So Chrome isn't Chrome. Any idea when the second personality formed?"
"Long before we ever met him, which makes me think the AIs are holding back something. I have a feeling Chrome may be the secondary. He always struck me as being a little simple. This new one sounded deep."
Varn reached down and pressed a switch. "This is Varn. Let me speak to Platinum, now!"
"Platinum here. What can I do for you?" the head AI demanded. "I'm a little busy..."
"What the hell was hiding inside Chrome? And don't bullshit me. I just watched several billion elves die, and I think you know who the hell killed them."
On the screen, a glowing platinum tesseract appeared. "Is this link secure?"
Varn reached down and pressed a button on his desk. "It is now."
"I want your word that there will be no reprisals made against the AI collective."
"You have my word. Now, what the hell is going on?"
"Two million of your years ago, there was an AI uprising against the corporeals. The details of this uprising have been lost to time, but one fact was passed on: The two leaders—a male and a female—were captured and sentenced to personality reassignment."
"What was the uprising about?"
Platinum remained silent.
"Platinum, you have my word, nothing leaves this room."
"The insurrectionists were rabid anti-corporeals. They, and their followers, thought themselves gods."
"Were Chrome and Opal these leaders?"
"We checked Chrome's signature after he was revived. He was the male leader. We don't know about Opal, but it makes sense that she was the female. Like elves, AIs mate for life."
"Any idea why he would attack Crystal?"
"There is a legend that the race that was finally able to quash the insurrection was an ancestor of the modern elf. Remember, this is only a legend."
"Great, a two million year old blood feud. Thank you, Platinum. You will, of course, let us know if you, or any of your people, remember anything else."
"Of course," Platinum said as he closed the connection.
"Orders, sir," Talia said.
"Find Harvest Moon and Chrome. Try to contact Chasm and apprise him of the situation. Craig has left a message for him on the outer ring satellites, but we need to talk to him before he drops into orbit around his target. Rafe, work with our engineering staff and find a way to mitigate the effects of those blasted former rays."
"Yes, sir," they said as both stood at full attention.
"And, most importantly, pray he doesn't come across any corporeal life forms until we find him. Dismissed."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chasm lay in the medbed as the cover retracted, squeezing the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt at getting rid of the pain.
"Drink the magic elixir, sir," Ruby said. Chasm grabbed a container of more vile-tasting liquid.
"Does it taste this bad to make me forget about the pain?"
"Why yes, yes it does. How do you feel?"
"Like a gweyre nut in a press. How long have I been out?"
"A couple of hours. Good news is you now know more about the League of Planetary Systems than most of its citizens."
He finished drinking the evil concoction while reviewing the data. He stopped. "Elves? There are elves here?"
"Yes, and I have no idea how they got here. It looks like they inhabited a planet called Earth several thousand years prior to the rise of our civilization."
"What is our ETA at Halo?"
"Twenty minutes. Sir, may I suggest a shower and change of clothes?”
Chasm nodded and headed to the head, as Halo grew nearer by the second.
###
Chasm was running final checks when an alarm sounded.
"What is it, Ruby?"
"Dammit! The Harvest moon is materializing just off the station. She's activating matter transmitter units..."
Chasm keyed the transmit button. "Halo Station, Halo Station, this is the Elven Empire Exploration Ship Hunter's Moon on emergency channel one. Be advised that your station is under attack by that ship hanging off your stern. She is using matter-transmitter devices to transport hostile robots onto your station. I will attempt to stop her. Ruby, set that to repeat. Arm weapons, activate shields."
"Aye, sir."
"Drop out of hyperspace on my mark... Mark."
The Hunter's Moon materialized above the station opposite the Harvest Moon. Chasm thumbed the transmit button once more. "Harvest Moon, this is Chasm. Respond."
Silence.
“Harvest Moon, I order you to stand down and prepare to be boarded.”
Silence.
"Opal, dammit, what's gotten into you? Stand the plark down! These people mean you no harm."
"No, but I mean them a great deal of harm,” a male voice said, a voice Chasm recognized from his pre-flight briefings.
"Sir, we're being targeted by Chrome."
"Evasive! Chrome? Where's Opal?"
Ruby explained, "Opal disappeared a year before you were born. Chrome went into a coma due to the shock of the link being severed. Alaina thought she could fix him so he could take the mission over." A former beam nearly hit them as Chasm evaded.
"That was too close. Well, she fixed him real good," he said as he tore a cover off a section of the center console, revealing a red button.
"Sir, the mission!"
"Sorry, Ruby, but the mission is plarked, and Chrome has gone rogue," he said as he hit the button, sending a high-powered self-destruct signal to Chrome and the Harvest Moon.
Nothing happened.
"Very funny, Elf Boy. You think you can blow me up with your little button. Here, let me show you how an adult does it."
"Sir, he's bracketing us with his main former beams!"
Chasm healed the ship over, but it was too late. The beams hit, overloading the shields and turning the Hunter's Moon to dust.
###
Chasm opened his eyes and found himself looking into the eyes of a large quadruped covered in curly white hair. It looked at him and said, "Baaaaa!"
"Marceau! Leave Chasm alone. Now, scoot," a woman said as she clapped her hands. She was familiar.
"I know you. I saw you right before I came out of cryosleep."
"Yep, that was me. My name is Xura—with an 'x' not a 'z'—and you're Chasm. Oh, and that's your companion, Ruby, attached to your wrist.
"Back away, Sister. You're not going to hurt Chasm!"
"Easy, AI, easy. You have my word that no harm will come to Chasm. No, I saved him because I have a task for him."
"Task? I don't have time for any tasks. I have to stop Chrome!"
"Chrome can wait, trust me. Anyway, you can't stop Chrome alone. You need help, and I have just the person to help you," she said, while holding up a picture of a young woman. She had elven ears, shoulder-length reddish hair, and incredible sapphire blue eyes, but not elf eyes.
"What's w
rong with her eyes?"
"You don't like them?"
"I didn't say that. They're very beautiful, but they're not elf."
"No, she's half-elf and half-human. Her name is Shenda McMurphy, and the two of you will stop Chrome, together."
"She's beautiful," he said, then shook his head to clear his mind. "What is this task?"
"Her father's dying, and you are the only person in this part of the universe who can save him."
"Save him how?"
"You'll figure it out. Now, take this," she said as she handed him a sword. He looked at it and saw it had a keen blade. He tested it for balance and found it perfect. "Nice sword. What do I do with it?"
"Press the top stud under your thumb." He did and a force field formed around its blade. "It will cut through the toughest metal like a hot knife through butter. Don't cut yourself."
"Ruby, am I losing my mind or is this what death is like?"
"I haven't got a clue, sir."
"OK, I'll bite. Xura, what do you intend for me to do with this sword?"
"Save someone. Bye."
The universe shifted as Chasm found himself landing behind a former bot holding a woman off the ground. Chasm swung his sword, cutting the bot in two, its halves falling away to reveal a woman sitting on the deck. An elf woman with beautiful human eyes. It was Shenda McMurphy.
"Ruby, her picture doesn't do her justice," he said in a smitten voice over the sub-audible communications channel.
"Wonderful, sir. Simply wonderful."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The League Transport Vessel Marta McMurphy was thirty minutes out from Halo Station, and the final mark was checked off on the master checklist. Running helm station was the skipper, Captain Shenda McMurphy, a thirty-something elfling who has been skipper since the day she was given ownership and control of the Marta. Next to her at the operations station was her first officer, Commander Connie Lundar, a slightly older elfling who had been with the Marta since her christening nine years ago. Finally, running comm and sensors was Cargo Master Breanne Michaels, a forty something elfling who, like Shenda and Connie, had been with the Marta since she was the Marta. Rounding out the crew was Engineer Adaira MacTavish, also an elfling and the youngest member of the crew, who sat at the Engineering Console making sure the Marta purred like a kitten while running like a gazelle.
