Daisy's Gambit

by Scott Baron

  When they saw Daisy walking down the ramp, smiles raised as weapons lowered.

  “What––” Vince was at a rare loss for words.

  “Come on, hotshot, I’ll fill you in on the way. Round up the troops. It’s time to regroup with the others.”

  “Okay,” he said. “Back to Dark Side. Time to go home.”

  “No,” Daisy said quietly. “That’s not home anymore. This is.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  From across Earth's surface, the teams had been retrieved and brought back to rejoin their friends within the walls of Dark Side Base. They returned victorious, but at a price.

  The Váli’s hull was already patched, a thick piece of high-impact ceramisteel welded in place where the pulse blast had pierced the ship. It had been the number-one priority repair as soon as it landed on Dark Side Base.

  “One in a hundred, that shot,” Barry had commented upon seeing the damage. Then he set to work cleaning the blood from Mal’s command center. Reggie and Donovan shouldered the unpleasant task of unplugging Gustavo from the console and putting him in a body bag.

  The captain would be fine in cryo, they figured, and there was no rush moving his pod from the ship to the med lab, so they took their time, treating their dead friend’s remains with the greatest care.

  The ship’s exterior had burned off any traces of the plague that still wafted in the air when it powered through the atmosphere, but the interior of the command pod needed to be flooded with powerful chemicals before they could risk opening it.

  The captain was the one man who still harbored a genetic vulnerability to the plague, and after he eventually completed the time-consuming process of having the trace amount of plague he was exposed to removed from his body, they needed to ensure the rest of the base remained clean and safe.

  “Barry, when you have a moment, would you mind visiting my core processing pod and retrieving additional AI processing units numbers twelve through nineteen and bring them to Chu’s lab?”

  “Of course, Mal,” he said as he mopped up blood from the command pod floor.

  Later that evening, the commander called a meeting in Hangar One. He kept it brief as he said a few words to the gathered men and women. Words of gratitude to those who lost their lives that day, human, cyborg, and Chithiid alike. Their bravery, their resolve, their ultimate sacrifice to help them reclaim their world.

  It was a somber speech, but one that needed to be made. At the end of the day, they had been victorious, but at a cost.

  After he finished speaking, the assembled crew of Dark Side then toasted their fallen friends and drank to their memory.

  “Everyone,” Daisy said, standing from her table. “I’m sure you’ve heard the news. We have a few new AIs joining us here on Dark Side. Several lower-tier ones were initially salvaged from the debris field and reactivated for the assault, and others will undoubtedly join them in coming weeks and months. But there’s one in particular I want you to meet. If you’ll all please follow me.”

  Fatima’s face spread into a happy smile when she saw Daisy and Vince walking hand in hand as she led the group to Hangar Two.

  “Everyone, this is Freya,” Daisy said as the assembled group stepped inside.

  “Hi everyone!” the intimidating-looking vessel cheerfully called out over her external speakers. It was indeed a strange dichotomy of happy kid and deadly warship.

  They could do little more than gawk at the sleek black vessel. She was far more advanced than anything they’d ever seen, including Ra’az technology. Fatima, more than the others, seemed utterly enthralled when she heard the young AI speak.

  “Most disconcerting,” Mal said. “She does not show up on my scans, even at this range.”

  “Mine either,” Bob added.

  “I read the tiniest of signatures, but if I didn’t see her sitting there in plain sight, I might very well chalk it up to a faulty sensor. And within my hangar, no less. Most incredible technology,” Sid marveled.

  “And much of it invented before the invasion, right here on Dark Side. The most secret research in the most secret part of the most secret base.”

  “You guys want to see my hangar?” Freya chirped.

  “She has her own hangar?” Mal questioned. “I don’t have my own hangar.”

  “No one does, Mal,” Sid replied. “Freya, it’s not polite to make up things.”

  “Daisy, tell them! I’m not lying!”

  “She’s not,” Daisy confirmed. “I kinda discovered a hidden hangar and fabrication lab way out past Hangar Four.”

  “And you didn’t see fit to tell anyone?” Mrazich asked, eyebrow held high and askew.

  “I was feeling more than a little overwhelmed, okay? And it was the one place on this whole base I could truly be alone,” Daisy replied, a tad defensively.

  “Except you weren’t alone,” Fatima noted.

  “Well, no, but Freya’s different. It’s hard to explain.”

  The stealth ship abruptly powered up, silently hovering above the ground.

  “Come on, I’ll show you my hangar. It’s got all this cool stuff, like a nano fabrication processing plant, and a biphasic neutrino detector, and––”

  “Settle down, Freya, and please land at once,” Sid said. The ordinarily calm AI actually seemed a bit flustered by the unconventional juvenile AI. “Daisy, this is why there are rules. Why we have strict protocols for awakening and fostering the initial growth of a new mind.”

  “Well, what’s done is done, and I think she came out amazing. Oh, and did I mention she seems to have found a way to purge the AI virus without harming the host?”

  “I’m sorry, she what?” Sid asked in disbelief.

  “It’s not possible,” Mal added.

  “Yeah? Well, there’s an obnoxiously talkative little ship parked outside who’d beg to differ with you. Ring him up––his name’s Kip. I’ve gotta warn you, though, he’s a bit too perky for some tastes. And he’s really fixated on toast.”

  The AIs went silent a moment, then came back over comms. “It seems your assessment was correct,” Sid commented. “On both counts.”

  “See? So cut Freya some slack.”

  “We will keep an eye on her as she matures and try to help guide her more in the coming months of her development. Beyond that, I’m afraid whatever you’ve done to her is done.”

  “Hear that, Freya? You’re awesome and get to stay that way!”

  “Woo-hoo! I’m awesome!” she exclaimed, her ship bouncing slightly on its anti-grav as she giggled.

  “And she’s armed?” Commander Mrazich said, shaking his head as he eyed her massive cannons peeping out of their retracted housing. “Oh boy. This could get interesting.”

  As the group walked back toward the mess hall after the surprising meet and greet, Mrazich seemed unusually at ease. For the first time since she’d been on Dark Side, Daisy thought she might have even seen a hint of a smile.

  “What you did down there,” he began, “you and your teams achieved the impossible.”

  “The planet’s not ours, yet, Commander,” she replied. “We kicked their asses and cut them off from the fleet, but there’s no telling how many pockets of resistance are still down there. Mopping up is going to be a chore, and some Ra’az Hok loyalists may try to sneak into the rebel Chithiid ranks, but now that the rebellion is out of the bag, I think our alien friends will be more than a little glad to hunt down the stragglers.”

  “Of course. And there will be a lot of coordinating to do, but that’s something we can worry about tomorrow. For today, go get cleaned up, get some chow, and get some rest. Lord knows you deserve it,” he said as he and the others continued down the corridor.

  Daisy and Vince paused and shared a smoldering look as the others flowed past them. Vince raised a questioning eyebrow.

  “Yeah?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  The steam in the shower had filled the room quickly, but Daisy and Vince didn’t mind. In fact, they
kind of liked the impromptu ambiance as they explored each other’s bodies like long-lost lovers. Given how long it had been since they’d treated each other as anything but awkward friends, the analogy was rather fitting, nearly as well as their bodies fit together.

  It had been quite some time coming, and for that reason, neither of them was remotely long in achieving that goal. Clean of body, if not mind, and feeling like new, they tumbled onto the inviting bed, both already good to go for round two, and likely round three as well.

  Time was no concern. There were no tasks, no preparations to make, just some much-needed downtime.

  They made sure to take full advantage.

  After a long and satisfying roll in the hay––minus actual hay, of course––they finally made their way to the galley on sex-wobbly legs to replenish their much-depleted energy stores and rehydrate as best they could.

  Finn was quietly baking when they arrived. Puff pastry with fresh whipped cream filling. Gustavo’s favorite.

  “Beats pouring one out for my homie,” he said when he noticed the pair watching him. “So, heroes of the planet, can I make you anything special?”

  “You sure you’re in the mood?” Daisy asked. “We totally understand if you don’t feel up to it.”

  “Keeps my mind busy,” he replied. “So what’ll you have?”

  “Surprise us,” Vince said.

  “Brave man,” Daisy laughed, pulling him close for a deep kiss.

  “Okay, you two, enough of that. People eat in here, you know.”

  Finn dug in a bin of fresh vegetables he had scavenged from the surface. Once they had been thoroughly scanned and biologically scrubbed of any trace of plague, he had been allowed to haul his booty to the kitchen, where he seemed quite pleased to get to experiment with actual native-grown ingredients.

  “I was thinking,” he said as his mechanical fingers quickly peeled a garlic clove. “We cut off the supplies heading back to their world, but how long is it going to be until they send scouts to see what happened to their plunder? I mean, after that, it’s just a matter of time before we’re facing a full-scale war.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much,” Vince replied. “From what I gather, their homeworld is a long, long ways away. Without the new warp system, it’s probably several years before they would return, and by then, hopefully we’ll have figured out a way to take them out of the equation.”

  Finn’s blade stopped chopping.

  “Not to be a downer, guys, but a warp ship escaped,” he said. “One of the new ones, from what I gather. It’s probably already arrived.”

  “Freya tracked its path. It actually went the other direction. Likely heading to warn the fleet, but that crazy little attack ship and I managed to do more damage than we initially thought. When Kip’s rail gun hit it, we appear to have pierced their drive controls, and severely at that.”

  “But I thought it warp-jumped away.”

  “It did, but Freya showed me the scans she recorded. The warp bubble was underpowered and incredibly unstable. Even if they were able to successfully jump ahead without blowing themselves to shreds, it would require years of small jumps to reach the fleet instead of just one, now that their drive system is damaged. Those were test ships. Bare-bones. That means no repair equipment on board. However slow they’re going, that’s it for them.”

  “We still haven’t found the specs for the warp units in the undamaged areas of the research facility, but once we do, we’ll have the tools to fulfill our promise to Craaxit. We couldn’t have done any of this without him.” Vince said, a shadow falling across his cheerful demeanor. Though he had barely known their alien ally, he nevertheless seemed truly hurt by the loss.

  “Excuse me!” a perky voice chimed in.

  “Freya, how did you get on the internal comms?” Daisy asked.

  “I kinda just did.”

  “Well, it’s rude to eavesdrop.”

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay, just remember for next time. Now, what did you want to say?”

  “Oh, I wanted to tell you that I redesigned my engines and boosted their output a whole bunch. I’m still working with them, but maybe we could get to the Ra’az’s world faster than expected. I just need to find a better power source.”

  Daisy pulled the dimly glowing orb from her pocket.

  “Hey, Freya, I may have something for that. I snagged it when I was in San Francisco. It reads kinda funny, but seems to have a lot of power to it. I’ll bring it down to you in a minute. You can take it back to your lab and play around, see what you can make of it.”

  “Oh boy! Thanks, Daisy! This is way better than a lousy T-shirt!”

  “What?” Finn asked, puzzled.

  “Tourist joke,” Vince said with a little grin. “That’s one funny kid you got there, Daze.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  “Are you sure about handing that thing off to her without testing it first?”

  She’s got a better lab and sharper mind than any of us. What would you have me do?

  “I don’t know I’m just not so sure about that thing, is all.”

  All we can do is wait and see.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The next day, everyone’s spirits seemed a bit higher. The loss of their friends was weighed against the scale of their victory, which somewhat tempered the pain. It was a tough pill to swallow, but their sacrifices had not been in vain.

  Daisy wandered into Chu’s lab after breakfast. She had eaten heartily, needing to replenish her fuel, both from the lengthy and draining mission on Earth’s surface, as well as her and Vince’s exceptionally energetic celebration.

  She glanced around casually, taking in the insane level of clutter in what was ordinarily a meticulously organized workspace.

  “Damn. Looks like he’s been a busy boy,” Sarah noted.

  Seriously. They really did yeoman’s work getting all of those drones and lesser AI ships in the air.

  An unexpected sight caught her eye. It was a bit odd, seeing Tamara’s arm lying on a table with no Tamara attached.

  “Whatcha working on, Chu?” Daisy asked.

  The scientist looked up from his computer screen, a new algorithm flashing by like trees out a moving car window.

  “Freya’s AI fix. It’s insanely complex. You say she just came up with it on the fly?”

  “Yup. A certified genius, my girl.”

  “Given what I’m seeing here, I might have to agree with you. It completely cleared a sample infection I ran on an old salvaged AI unit we had in quarantine.”

  “And the arm?”

  “Cal already wiped it, so that AI was a loss. I’ve been slowly reinstalling a new one to the processor. It takes time, but Freya’s work gave me a few ideas I’m toying with. Hopefully it’ll function even better than before when we reinstall it.”

  “So weird. I can’t picture her without this thing.”

  “Yeah, but she was wiped out, and it was just dead weight, so I was able to talk her into dropping it here while she slept. Actually, she should be picking it up any time now.”

  Daisy pondered the inert arm as it lay on the table, a few data cables running to the new processor.

  “Hey, Chu. Can I borrow some tools?”

  “Uh, sure. Why?”

  Daisy smiled wide as she told him her idea.

  “Best surprise ever,” Sarah commented.

  I know, right?

  An hour later, Daisy had just finished her project when Tamara walked in.

  “What are you doing with my arm, Daisy?”

  “Chu’s got the new AI up and running. It should be even more in sync with your neural patterns.”

  “You still haven’t answered my question.”

  Daisy snatched up the arm with glee.

  “Come on! We need to go somewhere with space.”

  “Hang on! Wait a minute!” Tamara called after her as she chased her to their training space.

  Daisy stood in the middle of
the room, the arm in her hands, held out for Tamara as she ran into the chamber.

  “Stop dicking around and give me my arm.”

  Daisy complied.

  “What are you grinning about?” the surly woman asked as her arm firmly locked back in place and powered on.

  “Come here a second.” Daisy reached out and grabbed Tamara’s arm, quickly depressing a series of function keys on the forearm panel.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Trust me,” she said, finishing the activation command.

  “Daisy, what did you do to my arm?”

  “I said trust me,” she replied, tugging the arm. “Point it that way, at that crate.”

  “Why the crate?”

  “Trust me. Jeez, how many times do I have to say it?”

  “Until you tell me what the hell you––”

  “Think GRAB,” Daisy said.

  “What do you mean, ‘think GRAB’––”

  The newly installed power whip shot from her arm and wrapped around the crate, yanking it and sending it flying across the room. Tamara’s jaw dropped.

  “I saw how much you liked it,” Daisy said, “so I thought––”

  She found herself cut off when Tamara abruptly wrapped her up in a giant bear hug, a ridiculously happy grin plastered to her face.

  “Need… Air.”

  Tamara let her go and aimed at the crate again. “GRAB!”

  The crate once more went flying.

  “Daisy…” She was at a loss for words.

  “I know,” Daisy replied with a warm smile. “Eventually you won’t even need to use words. It’ll just know what you want. But don’t force things. Soft is strong, after all.”

  Tamara was already testing out her visceral connection to the new device, the crackling length of it playing out and reeling back in.

  “She’s getting the hang of it quickly.”

  Figured she would, Daisy replied.

  “Okay, I’ll leave you to play with your new toy. It’s point and think, though it looks like you’ve already got the hang of it. Try HARD. You’ll get a kick out of that one."

  Daisy walked out of the training room to the sound of glorious carnage as Tamara frolicked like a kid in a candy shop, smashing things to bits with her new toy.