by M. D. Cooper
The expression on Garza’s face was one of pure disdain as he turned away, walking to the basin where he filled a cup with water before taking a drink.
“You’re thinking of it even now,” Tangel said after a moment. “I can see it in your mind. It’s tricky, filtering through all the minutia that crowds human thought. I had expected your mind to be cleaner than most—it is, but not much.”
“What are you talking about, woman?” Garza turned his head just enough to meet her eyes.
“The Perilous Dream. That’s the ship she operates from. It’s located in the…huh, I guess you just call it ‘A1’ System. A black dwarf star. Well, that’s interesting…just like her in so many respects.”
Garza’s eyes had grown wide as Tangel spoke, a look of fear pushing aside the smarmy expression that had been there a moment before.
“I wasn’t asking you stupid questions,” Tangel said with a slow wink as a filament of light exited her body, sliding through the plas toward the man as he backed away. “I was just making you think about her location, bringing those thoughts to the surface of your mind. Stars, you can’t stop thinking about all sorts of things you don’t want me to know, now. I really did think that you’d be more disciplined than this.”
“You’re ascended.” The words hissed from Garza’s lips on an indrawn breath as Tangel’s otherworldly hand reached him. “How?”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Practice. Lots of practice. I suspect this is the eventual destiny of all humans—should they live long enough. We know that so much more of spacetime exists, but we’re blind to it—well, sort of blind. But I can see it clearly, just like I can see your thoughts as though they were on a holodisplay before me. You’re a flatlander, Garza. Three times over from where I am, now.”
“Are you with the core AIs, then?” he asked, slowly gaining a measure of control over himself. “With Airtha?”
“Of course not. To both,” Tangel said with a shake of her head. “As much as I hate it, the fact of the matter is that I’m at the head of my own faction. And we’re just a few sure strikes away from victory.”
For a moment, the man’s veneer cracked, and a wild-eyed look came over him. “For now.”
Tangel was about to ask what he meant, but Garza drew a deep breath and sat on the floor of his cell. He was working to clear his mind, to think of nothing and become opaque to her.
It was working relatively well.
“Well, I guess I have enough for now,” Tangel said with a wink. “I might go talk to your clone, though, see what he knows.”
Garza’s jaw tensed, but he didn’t speak.
Tangel waited a minute, staring at the man who she now knew had hoped to become humanity’s ruler, but was now just another prisoner in the brig.
WIDOWSTRIKE
STELLAR DATE: 10.06.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: CIC, ISS I2, near Lunic Station
REGION: Aldebaran, League of Sentients Space
“Well, if we know where it is,” Joe began, staring intently at the holotank that showed the location of the black dwarf star known as A1, “let’s just fire some RMs through a jump gate, and call it a day.”
“You know we can’t do that,” Tangel said, meeting her husband’s eyes. “The Widows are one of Orion’s major clandestine arms. The intel on that ship is not something we can just pass up.”
Captain Rachel shook her head as she stared at the holo—which displayed a region of space over a thousand light years into the gap between the Orion and Perseus arms.
“So is it just me, or is that black dwarf star a bit early…like by a quadrillion years or so?” she asked.
“I was wondering that, too,” Saanvi added. “It really can’t be a black dwarf…it must be a burned out brown dwarf, or a rogue planet.”
Tangel shook her head. “No—well, I think ‘no’. Garza definitely gave me the impression that it was a stellar remnant. A white dwarf that had cooled enough to no longer emit light.”
“Yeah, but like Captain Rachel said,” Cary nodded deferentially to the I2’s commander, “the universe isn’t old enough for any black dwarf stars to exist yet—heck, with proton decay and WIMPs, a quadrillion years is the low-ball estimate for them.”
“We’ve seen a lot of stuff that we never expected to.” Tangel gave an uncertain glance at Cary. “Mining a white dwarf could cause this effect, or even just siphoning off the heat somehow.”
“That’d be a big siphon.” Saanvi shook her head.
Joe scrubbed his hands across his face. “OK, I give. We need to do surveillance. I’ll select a ship to drop in and check out this A1 System.”
“Why not just send a team in?” Faleena asked. “Get the intel, blow the ship, be gone. All in one fell swoop.”
“Well, for starters, it’s a ship full of Widows….” Cary shot her sister a narrow-eyed glance.
Faleena looked Cary up and down, then Saanvi. “With some minor mods, the two of you could pass for Widows.”
“Widows?!” Saanvi exclaimed. “Noooo no no no no.”
“There are almost no infiltration teams available right now,” Faleena said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Carson’s fleet got called away to aid Rika, and we can’t pull anyone from the Airtha mission. But for all we know, there could be dozens of Widow teams out there, ready to strike. Rika, Petra, Kylie, Krissy…so many of our allies would not be able to stop one of their attacks as easily as we did.”
Tangel chewed on her lip as she thought through her available assets, realizing that no group small enough to infiltrate the Widows’ ship would stand a chance of success—not without an ascended being to help.
I could do it, but I need to stay on hand to aid in the attack on Airtha.
“Stars…. It may actually be the best option we have.” Her eyes met Joe’s, and she could tell that he’d come to the same conclusion.
“Dammit.” He looked at Cary and shook his head. “Well, the three of you aren’t going in alone. I’m bringing a stealthed cruiser to keep watch.”
“Wait…exactly when did I agree to this?” Sanvi asked.
* * * * *
“OK…” Iris shook her head a little too fast, still fine-tuning the actuators in her new body. “You’re telling me that you three girls are going to infiltrate Widows HQ. On your own?”
Everyone in the CIC nodded, and Cary spoke first.
“Yes. That’s why we wanted to talk with you, to learn any details from your mission in the Ferra system that might not have been in Jessica’s report.”
Iris glanced at Faleena. “Well, for starters, this group of Widows is a step up from the ones we dealt with back in Orion space. We were able to fool them with Addie, our infiltrator chameleon, but I don’t think that you’ll be able to fake out this breed, Faleena.”
“We stand a better chance of success if I go,” Faleena replied, setting her jaw as she regarded Iris.
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t go,” Iris said, casting a glance at Tangel, surprised that she was allowing a trio of women just barely out of their teens to undertake such a crucial mission.
Well, except for Faleena. She’s only two.
“But if you do, you’re going to need to use a body that matches the Widows’ physiology. Nance and Cheeky had to get mods to pull it off.”
“I understand that,” Faleena replied equably. “I’m prepared to have my core implanted in a simulacra to achieve our goals for this mission.”
“OK. If that’s the case, then I’ll come too,” Iris said with a resolute nod. “I know the Widows, and I’m a better breacher than any of you.”
Iris glanced up at the overhead. “I am?”
“I’m a component, am I, Bob?”
“I have to admit.” Tangel’s voice was heavy with unspoken emotion. “Were you three not highly talented women who work exceptionally well together, I’d never consider this.”
“I can barely believe we actually are,” Joe added, worry writ large across his features. “What about just waiting until Carson’s fleet is finished helping Rika, and then sending it in whole hog? Stars, once Rika is done with her latest conquest, we could send her Marauders.”
Tangel shook her head. “It’s going to take her some time to cut her way across Nietzschea. Then she has to stabilize the region. No, crazy as it sounds, our best bet is to send our three girls in—with you close by, of course.”
“And the First Fleet will be arrayed in front of jump gates,” Rachel said with a solemn nod.
“And the Home Fleet,” Tangel added. “Or some of it, at least.”
“Really?” Tangel asked, cocking her head as she considered the woman’s skillset. “Are you sure?”
Tangel knew the decision Priscilla faced. If she continued to be Bob’s avatar for much longer, her mind would no longer be separable from his.
she replied.
“What about Kylie’s team?” Rachel asked. “Things have settled down in Silstrand—for the moment, at least.”
Tangel pursed her lips. “They’d be a good option, yes. But I just sent them into the Hegemony on their own impossible mission.”
A sudden—and marginally manic—laugh escaped her lips, and she glanced at Joe.
“You know…next time we try to take over the galaxy, let’s do it with a bigger team.”
Joe gave a wry smile while nodding emphatically. “Noted.”
“Priscilla, you been listening in?” Tangel asked, already knowing the answer.
The reply was laced with uncertainty.
“And?”
“You’re right about that,” Tangel replied with rueful laugh. “But even if you had, nothing is ever like the training anyway. Everyone has to have their first time out sometime.”
“No pressure,” Joe said. “We could also take a few days and find volunteers in the Marine companies. There are a few who have shown an aptitude for this sort of work.”
“I’ll tell Doctor Rosenberg to get ready,” Rachel said. “Four Widows, coming right up.”
Saanvi gave a shudder. “Gonna miss my nose.”
“Your what?” Cary asked.
Faleena clapped her on the shoulder. “You should read Jessica’s report. Noses and ears don’t fit in Widow helmets. Why do you think they talk so strangely?”
Cary met Tangel’s eyes. “Too late to change my mind, Moms?”
PART 4 – THE CALM
DEEPER
STELLAR DATE: 10.06.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: River Station, Styx Baby-9
REGION: STX-B17 Black Hole, Transcend Interstellar Alliance
“This is just too weird, Sabs,” Cheeky said as she reclined on one of the chairs in Sabrina’s rear observation lounge.
“Oh?”
Sabrina was using one of the new frames she’d ‘requisitioned’ from the I2 during their recent visit to the massive warship. Unlike her other mobile frames—which looked as much like a starship as a bipedal hominid—this one looked almost perfectly human.
“What do you mean, ‘oh’?” Cheeky fixed Sabrina with a narrow-eyed stare. “The fact that I’m the captain, and we’re taking on new crew to go on a crazy mission. That’s what’s weird.”
Sabrina only shrugged. “I’m OK with it.”
“It’s a lot of change…. Am I ready?” Cheeky wondered.
“Cheeky.” Sabrina paused to shake her head and give a bubbly laugh. “I’ve known since day one that you and I were destined to be together.”
“Liar. You were so pissed when Sera brought me aboard. You couldn’t believe that she’d hired a pilot.”
The AI shrugged. “OK…maybe not day one. But when you took the helm, I knew it was meant to be. You, me, flying through the stars. No one else feels it the same way we do.”
“Well, I think Jessica does,” Cheeky suggested. “She’s one hell of a pilot.”
Sabrina nodded. “OK, I’ll grant you that. But it’s different with you.”
Cheeky wondered what Sabrina was getting at. Did the AI mean that Cheeky’s love of piloting was different than Jessica’s, or that it was different for Sabrina herself?
Across the lounge, Sabrina shifted her position, uncrossing and re-crossing her legs.
The single action caused Cheeky to suddenly realize why the AI was using a human-looking frame. Suddenly, everything around her shifted focus.
“Sabrina…are you….?”
“I want something more, Cheeky…more than the flirting we’ve been doing for the past three decades. It’s been enough to drive a girl mad.”
The new captain snorted. “Good thing you’re not a girl, Sabs.”
“Cheeky. I am a sleek, sexy starship. I am the ultimate girl, the evolution of femininity. Powerful, strong, cunning. And now I want the next thing any girl in my position would want.”
Cheeky wondered exactly what Sabrina meant by that, and what more she could offer.
“We’ve had sex in sims, Sabs—you seemed to enjoy it. Do you want to do it with that frame now? Is that why you picked it?”
Sabrina glanced down at the body she was controlling. “I think that could be fun, and I was thinking I’d use it as a gateway drug to reel you in, but what I really want is something more than sex, Cheeky.”
“Sabrina, I’m married to Finaeus…and while he recognizes that I’m not the sort of person to be tamed, I don’t think he would be happy if we entered into some sort of deeper relationship.”
“Are you sure about that?” Sabrina asked with a wink.
“Umm…OK, you’ve got me there, but what is it that you really want?”
Sabrina leant forward, her elbows on her knees, eyes boring into Cheeky’s. “You’re an AI. I know you like to ‘be’ human, but underneath it, you’re one of us now.”
“Right. I know that,” Cheeky said, trying to brush the comments away.
While she’d accepted what she was long ago, dwelling on it was still not something she liked to do. It made her feel shallow, like she was just the veneer of Cheeky, spread across a different entity.
“I can see that intellectually you know it,” Sabrina replied and then tapped her chest. “But do you know it in here?”
“Are you getting all metaphysical on me, Sabrina? Aren’t we supposed to be the carefree, fun-loving ones?”
She laughed and sat back in her chair. “Stars, Cheeky, I can be both, you know. So can you—so are you. Look, I don’t want to get between you and Finaeus, but I also want to take our relationship further…as AIs.”
“Sabrina!” Cheeky exclaimed. “Shit. You want to do that deep mind-meld thing that AIs do, where we bare our innermost selves to one another. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
The AI laughed again, both audibly and
in Cheeky’s mind. “I wasn’t planning to go all the way the first time we touch minds. You’re not used to thinking like an AI, and I want to ease you into it.”
Lips pursed, Cheeky blew out a long breath through her nose while staring at the AI.
Finally, she said, “You’d be surprised, Sabs. I think I’ve been thinking like an AI a lot, in how I see things, and analyze information. It’s different than how I used to be. It’s like I’m straddling both worlds.”
“Nothing wrong with that. It gives you unique insight. Not a lot of humans make the leap—certainly not many get the best minds in the galaxy facilitating the transition.”
“So where does this lead?” Cheeky asked. “You being the ship’s AI, and me the captain and pilot. Do we just blend together when we fly?”
“I guess we could try that. Like I said, I just want to take baby steps. We’ll see how compatible our minds are in the long run.”
Cheeky snapped her fingers and gave Sabrina a measuring look. “I know what you want! You want to use my brains to make a baby!”
Sabrina held up her hands laughing softly. “Stars, Cheeky, no risk of you ever becoming a cold logic machine, is there?”
“Not so long as the stars are burning,” Cheeky intoned. “But seriously. You want to make a child with me, don’t you?”
Sabrina nodded slowly. “Eventually, if you’d like to. It’s how new AIs are made. We merge, draw in elements from one another, produce new beings. Sometimes adding in bits from organic parents, too. It’s how we keep things fresh. You’d be amazing, given your past and what you are.”
“To add me to the collective?” Cheeky asked with a laugh.
“You know it’s not like that.”
“I know, I couldn’t help it. So…how do we do this—touch minds?”
“First, I take you into an expanse. You’ve been in mine a few times already, so let’s start there.”
Cheeky nodded, and suddenly she was in space, drifting in the midst of a blue and purple nebula. She looked down at herself to see that she was in one of the modified AI frames that Sabrina liked to use: humanoid, but sleek, like a starship with an engine on the back.
