by Jay Toney
We stepped back from each other, eying each other. He made a series of rapid attacks, slashing and hacking at me with his blade. I parried his attacks, blocking and deflecting his attack. I wasn't ready to show him my enhancements yet. I fought back, slashing at his neck and lunging towards his belly. He barely blocked these blows in a shower of sparks and electric arcs. He was forced back to the end of the runway. One more step and he would find himself on the wrong side of the forcefield.
He flicked his left wrist. Pain surged through my left arm. It was caught by an electronic lash. Smoke rose from my arm wherever the lash touched my skin. My arm was immobilized by both pain and the electric currents flowing into it. It was my turn to be forced back by his attack. His officers cheered.
I should have been able to best him and avoid his tricks, something was wrong. I couldn't turn off the pain receptors, and the lash continued to burn my arm. I fought faster slashing and thrusting at him. He easily blocked my blows. He was toying with me as much as I had been with him. One of my blows got through his guard, touching his arm. The sleeve of his uniform was cut away, and his skin torn. He was a cyborg, or perhaps a machine. My easy victory was over.
His people cheered louder. I was on the defensive, struggling to block his blows. Occasionally he would pull on the lash, pulling me off balance. I ignored the pain, as best as I could. His sword scored hit after hit on me. The fight was over, he one. It was just a matter of time before one of his blows would finish me. Until then, I would continue to fight.
"Nathaniel, you cannot loose. You are more than man, more than a machine. The Fates have given you a life, not unlike ours. I am with you." Persephone merged with me again, this time I received her energy. The lash fell from my arm, and I pressed the attack again. Captain Rutherford's blade slipped past my guard, and I grabbed it with my bare hand and pulled it from him.
"That's impossible!" He dropped to his knees defeated, waiting for the finishing blow.
"Do you accept defeat?"
"Yes. I have never been bested, until now."
"Do you stand by our agreement?"
"You have won fairly. I stand by our agreement. Make it quick."
"I have other plans. We are searching for a Star Bridge, it is located somewhere near the Antares system. Do you have any information that may help?"
"There is nothing but the void past Antares."
"Just because it hasn't been found, doesn't mean it is not there. We got here from another galaxy somehow?"
"Are you asking us to join you on this quest?"
"I am. In exchange, I will have your ships upgraded."
"We are yours to command."
"One more question. I couldn't help but notice that you have cybernetic enhancements, tell me about it."
"There is not much to tell. We were passing through a system with a planet populated by cyborgs. They were attracted to a neurolink implanted within me. I was captured and enhanced, much like you, I suspect. What are your orders?"
"Set course for Gamma Atria IV. The space station there should be able to make the needed upgrades."
"Are you going to just accept us at our word?"
"I believe that you are a man of your word. Besides, being under my command will be preferable to life under the Alliance. They are on the move for conquest again. Only this time there are very few that are willing to oppose them."
"As I said, I have no love for the Alliance and its politics."
I helped Captain Rutherford up. He and his officers left for their ships. Our fleet changed course, for the space station orbiting the fourth planet.
"Persephone, thank you for saving me once again."
"I did little more than give you words of encouragement. You had the ability within yourself the whole time. Never have the fates taken interest or helped a mortal human before. You are something more, not a God, and not human either. Perhaps you have become something in between. In time we will learn more about what you have become and what your abilities are."
"For now my abilities seem linked to you."
"They are not, with practice and confidence you will be able to do amazing things. I will continue to help you as you learn."
We moored and docked our ships at the space station. Nugget got busy negotiating for the upgrades, and supplies that we needed. There was no doubt that he would get the best deal possible, for upgrading our new ships. We were building a decent sized fleet, with the Crimson Tide fleet joining ours.
"Nathaniel, you must be ready for a vacation. Our last stop didn't turn out the way we wanted. You didn't get a chance to have any fun." Jewel said.
"You and Amber are welcome to spend your time aboard the space station. I am going to lock myself in our quarters where I'll be safe."
"It won't be as much fun without you."
"Trust me, Amber will find plenty to get the both of you into trouble. You won't need me for that."
"We will come back each night to be with you."
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of Nathaniel. Go have some fun," Persephone told Amber and Jewel.
I sat down, admiring the Tsurani Suns. The glowing lights were almost hypnotic, and their music helped relax me. Persephone joined me sitting on the couch. "They are beautiful. The melody they are playing seems sad to me. They sing of times long lost."
"Yes, they are." I waved my hands at the orbs, and they began a new melody, "Something not so sad, I hope."
"Yes, that is much better."
"Do you really intend to stay cooped up here, in your cabin?"
"No, but I will not be leaving the ship."
I spent my days with Persephone, exploring the ship, visiting the holographic simulators, and in general enjoying myself, and her company. Jewel and Amber came back to be with me most evenings. Every time they returned, they had more packages with them. "Maternity wear, and things for the babies," they explained.
Mike added the adjoining cabin to ours increasing the size of our suite. The largest portion of the room was designed to be used as a nursery and playroom. Separate bedrooms were also added for future use. The bedrooms were large and spacious, large enough for four occupants. It would be awhile before the five bedrooms were needed. On the few days that Jewel and Amber stayed aboard the ship, they devoted their time to decorating the nursery. They were the happiest I had ever seen them. Maybe we should have considered children earlier.
The two months we stayed at the space station having our fleet upgraded passed rapidly. Nugget was disgruntled. "Cost us half our remaining silver. The bloodsuckers wouldn't budge on their prices. I could have got it done for half that back in Kesh."
"Didn't you offer them a trade for our technology?"
"I did, those bloodsuckers didn't know what a good deal it would be for them. They turned it down. It cost us extra to make sure they wouldn't be able to steal the information for their own use."
"How? Wouldn't they have records?"
"Sure they do, a good portion of our cost was in altering their records. They can try to upgrade their own ships, but they won't work. I made sure of that."
With our ships upgraded, supplies, and ammunition filled, we were ready to leave. We set our course to the Exion System and entered hyperspace.
Ghost Ship
The Exion System was devoid of human life. Its yellow sun was orbited by five planets, none of which were habitable. The system was rich in reaction mass. Several ice fields orbited the sun obscuring the view of its planets. A single space station served as home to several miners. The miners were rich. They made their credits by filling the cargo holds of freighters, which supplied the nearby star systems. Our ta
nks were relatively full.
We were just passing through this system, updating our navigation data. The space around us was clear of ice, giving us a clear view of the surrounding stars. We were traveling far outside of the orbits of the planets and ice fields. Our sensor sweeps showed the space around us as being clear of any objects.
The viewscreen showed otherwise. There was a large ship ahead, and we were closing on it. Jewels attempts at contacting the vessel remained unanswered.
"Captain, my scans still don't show any ships in this area. I've run diagnostics three times. There are no errors. That ship simply doesn't exist"
"Captain, Amber is correct. I can not explain the anomaly," Persephone said, appearing on the bridge. She did not look like her normal self. She looked tired, fatigued. If I didn't know better, I'd guess that she wasn't getting enough rest. She didn't sleep, of course. She was our ships AI, and at least part goddess.
How she manifested herself as our AI was still something we didn't understand. Her companions and protectors turned on her, killing her, ages ago. They used a weapon that was feared even amongst the gods. It was a weapon that could kill even them. Persephone spent her death in darkness, unaware of the time or events passing her by. She was reborn, as a new AI personality for my ship. All of the memories of her past life gone. Recently, she was recovering her lost memories.
"Persephone, is everything alright? You don't look so good."
"I don't feel so good either. I've run diagnostics on my systems, and everything checks out. I feel so tired, though." She sat on a vacant seat and promptly fell asleep. Her snoring was quiet, and not much different than that of the purring sounds my deevil made. Something was terribly wrong. She never slept.
Even though her corporeal form was sleeping on the bridge, part of her was still awake, running the ship's systems, correcting our course, and updating our navigation files.
"She looks how I feel," Amber remarked.
"I can't believe you still aren't over your morning sickness, mine only lasted a few days."
"Quit bragging. I have you to blame for it. It was your idea for us to get pregnant."
"You didn't have to agree."
"You made it sound like a good idea at the time."
"It was a good idea. I am enjoying being pregnant. I've never been happier."
"I've never been so miserable."
"Do you know what that means?" Without waiting for an answer she continued, I've got the girls and you have the boys."
"We'll see about that."
We continued to close on the ship, It was growing in size, but it was still too far away to identify its class. The only thing I could tell was that it was big.
"Amber, give me a split screen with visual and tactical."
The tactical display showed our fleet centered around us. It showed Reds battleship, Mike's agriculture ship, Beverly's light cruiser, our scout ships, and the new ships of our fleet. The Crimson Tide vessels consisted of three heavy cruisers and two destroyers, increasing our fleet to eleven ships in all.
The ghost ship, as I now called it was still invisible to our sensors. It was invisible to every form of sensors our ship had, except visible light. It showed no forms of radiation at all.
"Nugget continue closing."
I was beyond curious now. I should let it go, and continue to the next system, but my curiosity wouldn't let me. Nugget only spent part of his time watching our course. He let the ship's autopilot do all of the work. His attention was focused on our database. He was trying to match the ship against any known ship class, in our catalog.
"It has gotta be here someplace," he mumbled, scanning through the files, concentrating on older ships, no longer in service. "I've got it. It is a sleeper ship."
"A what?"
"A sleeper ship. When the humans came to our galaxy, hyperspace was still a relatively new technology to them. Not everyone could afford it, and not every ship that fled to our galaxy had it. They used cryogenic pods to preserve the passengers in suspended animation. Its course doesn't make sense though. It is headed back towards the Antares system. I think it has been circling the nearby star systems, but why?"
"Is it possible there are still people alive aboard that ship?"
"In theory, I suppose so. But we are talking about people frozen in time for thousands of years. It is unheard of. That ship is at least 3700 years old, probably older."
"I have to know."
"Many of our civilizations, have laws against interfering with sleeper ships. It is considered bad luck, not to mention impolite."
"Bad luck for who, them, or us?"
"I suppose both. There are tales of people who boarded sleeper ships to investigate, who were never seen or heard of again."
"More tales to scare children? I am going over there to take a look."
"Not without me. I'm not about to let you have all the fun."
"Jewel and I will be ready in a few minutes."
"No, stay here. We won't be long. We're just going over to take a look."
I turned to go, but some unseen force stopped me from leaving the bridge. It was if I was bound to a short leash. I was free to move about the bridge, but couldn't leave. I searched for the connection in my mind and found it. Somehow Persephone and I were bonded to each other. The bond made it impossible for us to leave each other. I couldn't leave without her.
I gently picked Persephone up and carried her off the bridge to the waiting transport car. The three of us boarded the car and set our destination to the shuttle bay.
"What's the deal with Sleeping Beauty?"
"There is a connection between us now that didn't exist before. It wouldn't let me leave the bridge without her. We have to stay close together, for now."
"Something ain't right with that dame. She reminds me about how my 3rd wife acted when she got pregnant. Good thing we don't have to worry about that."
"You're married?"
"No, I've had 5 wives, none of them worked out. I figured that it was a sign of things to be, so I stopped there."
The tube car came to a stop, its doors opening. We left the car and walked the short distance to the shuttle bay. It was a good thing that my Marauder was located near the entrance. For a hologram, Persephone sure weighed a lot. I put her down in a seat and fastened her harness. She didn't even blink when I buckled her in.
I sat in the pilot's seat, and Nugget took the copilot's chair. The tendrils in my arm found the familiar computer port. I cycled through the preflight checks and started the engines. The shuttle bay doors opened, and I taxied to the ready line. After a few last checks, I took off. I was immediately filled with the sensation of flight. The ship became an extension of my body, responding to every thought. I soared, opening up the throttles, and rolled the ship.
"Knock it off Nathaniel, you know I get space sick when you fly."
I had completely forgotten about that. I straightened the ship out, flying more sensibly for Nugget. It was still fun. The new engines in my marauder made it much faster. The Keshians also worked their magic on the flight control systems. I could make the ship dance now if I wanted to. I reluctantly held back, from my desire, and approached the sleeper ship.
A shuttle bay door stood open, inviting us in. I took it as a good sign. Lights illuminated the shuttle bay, making landing much easier. The bay doors closed behind us, and the shuttle bay pressurized. After landing my Marauder, I shut down its engines. With the shuttle bay pressurized, we didn't have to worry about wearing a space suit.
"Kind of spooky, ain't it?"
"Yeah. There must be someone aboard monitoring us, and operating th
e systems."
"Not likely, unless you count ghosts, of course. Time to wake Sleeping Beauty."
I gently nudged Persephone's shoulder. Her blue eyes opened, staring into mine.
"That nap felt so good," She stretched and yawned. "Where are we?"
"We are aboard the ghost ship."
"How did I get here?"
"I carried you. I couldn't leave the bridge without you being with me."
"That's strange."
"Tell me about it. Somehow we are bound to each having to stay within line of sight with each other." Maybe that has changed now that I am awake."
"It hasn't. I can still feel the bond"
"Hey, princess, what's with your sleeping? I thought you didn't need to sleep."
"I don't."
"Well, you sure looked and sounded like it."
"What do you mean?"
"You snore."
"I do not!"
"Sorry Persephone, he's right. You do snore. It's kind of cute though. It sounds more like purring."
"It's more like the growling of a tigress. It reminds me of my 2nd wife. She used to keep me awake all night long with her snoring. It got so loud she even woke the servants most nights. She said she didn't snore either. Worthless that one was. My other wives each produced offspring, but that one was barren. I had to pay good money for someone to take her off my hands. Worth every credit it was."
"Come on, let us get going,"
There was a tube car system, similar, but much older than the one aboard the Persephone. There were only a few menu selections on the control panel. Its selections were made using push buttons, instead of a more familiar touchscreen. I pushed the button marked bridge. The doors sealed, and the car lifted on its maglev track, before moving forward.
Maglev was an old technology, rarely used today. It was replaced by repulsor fields, which could lift more weight with less energy. Even the Persephone's tube car system used repulsor fields to elevate and move its tube cars. As old as it was, it still managed to get us to our destination, without the need for walking. The door to the bridge opened at a touch of a button. The air inside was stale as if the environmental systems had been shut down, and the door sealed for a very long time.
