“Then do so,” Amber said firmly, turning down the hall toward the observation room, her sense of anticipation growing. Then she broke into a jog, taking distinct pleasure in the activity and the way her footsteps echoed through the virtually silent halls.
It was much farther to the observation room than Amber liked, and she passed several blast doors along the way. By the time she reached the door she was breathing hard, proving that while the cloning process of her body had made it perfectly fit, and the rehab had taught her to use it, that didn’t mean her endurance was as good as it could be. Still, it was something she could work on in her spare time, even if Amber did hate the idea of spending time exercising.
She paused to catch her breath, then stepped into the observation room and smiled broadly.
The room wasn’t enormous, but on one side of it was a computer terminal and a broad screen, while sticking out past the window opposite her was a massive telescope. Not that it was something Amber needed right now, as she ignored the handful of chairs and couches facing the broad window in front of her, focusing on the sight beyond it.
Most of the view through the window was taken up by a glittering starfield, their lights burning stark and unwavering without an atmosphere to distort their light. Through the bottom of the window Amber could see the pocked stone exterior of the asteroid that Invincible was built into, and beyond it was the shipyard itself, a couple of half-completed vessels cradled in arms that could just barely be seen from the outside, with how the lights didn’t diffuse.
Slowly moving across her field of vision was another ship, though. This one was different than the ones which were being built, though it was being towed by a smaller ship that had angular black surfaces and oversized engines. The ship had a deep blue hull, and its lines were even sharper and more angular than the ship towing it. Looking at the ship, Amber thought it had to be half a kilometer long, which was smaller than the largest vessels her shipyard could build, and yet that didn’t matter to her. No, what was in the ship was what mattered, and she slowly smiled, looking hungrily at the weapons dotting the ship’s sinister surface.
“You preserved the bodies you found inside the ship?” Amber asked, watching the ship slow as the tug adjusted its course carefully.
“Yes, Mistress Amber. Full scans have been made, and the data has been uploaded into the system. I am preparing proper containment protocols and will commence dissection and analysis of the deceased as soon as possible,” Circe replied promptly.
“Excellent. I need every advantage I can get if this is to succeed,” Amber said, watching with a smile on her face.
“Of course, Mistress Amber. I estimate three minutes, fourteen seconds to dock,” Circe said calmly.
Amber didn’t say anything more, simply standing there as she thought about her glorious future.
Chapter 18
Monday, April 28th, 2031
Eden Manor, Glendale
“How the hell are you still going?” Rachel demanded, almost wheezing, and Lilith blinked in confusion, her attention snapping away from the audio she’d been listening to. The documentary on the culture of Mexico was fascinating, and she wanted to look up some of the items that the man had talked about after she was done exercising.
“What?” Lilith asked shortly, hitting the button to pause the audio and glancing over, not slowing down as the treadmill kept moving at its current pace. She was breathing in swift, even gasps and sweat was beading on her skin, but she hadn’t reached her limit yet.
The exercise room was large and impressive, at least in Lilith’s opinion, and she’d turned up the gravity plates in the room to where it was five percent greater than elsewhere on Earth. Lilith would have turned it up to twenty percent, but the one time Gina had wandered into the room when she’d used that setting in the old lair had told her that was a bad idea. Gina had nearly broken her nose when she fell, and Lilith felt terrible about it.
“How are you still going?” Rachel demanded, wiping her forehead as she walked slowly on her own treadmill, cooling down. “I mean, I’ve seen you do some exercise before, but this is insane! You’re running in heightened gravity!”
“While unpleasant, I can handle, two gees,” Lilith replied in short gasps to keep from interrupting her rhythm. “I need this. If we’re to fight, have to be fit. Have to push.”
“Mistress Lilith is far from her limits at present,” Circe interjected via the intercom, a small flying remote drifting over, carrying water bottles in a small case below it. It took the empty bottle from in front of Rachel and replaced it with a new one, then did the same for Lilith. Gina was lying flat on her back on a pad, Lilith noticed, seeming to have given up on sit-ups. “While she neglected her physical training for some time, she’s been building her strength over time in my facilities. At my current estimates, she would be able to carry out her current workout under one and a half gravities. The current workout is primarily useful for increasing her endurance.”
Gina rolled over at that, looking at the remote with narrowed eyes, then looked at Lilith as she considered, then announced, “I think I hate you. That just isn’t fair.”
Lilith didn’t take the protest personally, since Gina often reacted like that when she didn’t have the upper hand. Instead Lilith just grinned, continuing to run at the same pace. She wasn’t about to speed up under the circumstances to prove the point, not since she was moving at a pace that caused just a bit of strain, yet she’d be able to keep it up for another half hour at a guess.
“Don’t give me that. We’re both spellcasters, and more powerful in just about every way that isn’t physical,” Rachel scolded Gina, picking up her bottle and unscrewing the cap. “Besides, who is the one just lying there, rather than exercising? I thought that we were going to work out together.”
Gina made a face as Rachel took a drink, then slowly, reluctantly climbed to her feet. The heroine did look rather winded, in Lilith’s opinion, so Lilith spoke up. “If you’re tired, you don’t need to.”
“Yeah, but I need to be better, not to give up the second my sides start burning,” Gina admitted, looking around before deciding on another machine to head over to. Gina definitely had the least long-distance endurance of the three of them, from Lilith’s point of view, but she really didn’t mind that. However, she did perk up as Gina spoke. “Circe… I’m curious; after her second awakening, or whatever Insight called it, did Lilith’s physical capabilities improve?”
“Yes, but to such a small degree that it was barely noticeable even by my sensors,” Circe replied promptly, the flying remote turning toward Gina. “Accounting for the changes in Lilith’s physique, I estimate that her physical capabilities increased by no more than one percent. Based on other research which I have accessed, this appears quite reasonable considering the potential strength of her powers.”
“It has, rather difficult, requirements,” Lilith interjected, just a bit irritated when she thought about her powers. Sure, she could heal Gina or Rachel, and even boost their abilities, but the requirement of needing absolute trust between them was rather bothersome.
“I believe that is a psychosomatic issue, not a requirement of your ability, Mistress Lilith,” Circe replied, drifting to the side to replace Gina’s water bottle as well. “I have been studying you for some time, and while my analysis is not perfect, it leads me to believe that your loneliness makes you cautious about trusting others, particularly since Mistress Amber vanished before you were created. Empowering others may very well be something you’re instinctively avoiding in order to avoid potential abandonment.”
“Wait, really?” Rachel said, finally turning off her treadmill as she looked at Lilith in surprise. “Are you really that concerned about being left alone?”
“I… don’t know,” Lilith said, frowning at Circe’s remote in confusion, then took a drink herself.
“I also may be wrong,” Circe admitted readily. “While I have gathered a great deal of data, it is not conclusive. M
istress Lilith’s powers have the potential to allow incredible power to others, which is why her own abilities appear to be highly limited. Except for her psychic defenses, which appear to be stronger than either of yours without magic involved. I have not been able to fully analyze her psychic defenses.”
“Huh. Well, it does explain a few things, and it’s something to work on,” Rachel said, taking her bottle as she headed toward the barbells. “Just like we need to work on our physical strength.”
“Agreed,” Lilith said, pausing to make sure that the others weren’t going to say anything more, then hit the button to resume her documentary.
She had too much culture to catch up on to waste her time, Lilith found. They’d already lost enough time that morning when Hypergizmo had arrived to drop off the rest of Gina and Rachel’s things, and even with Circe’s robots to help, it’d taken a couple of hours to get everything organized in the garage. At least it was done, though.
“I think that this one didn’t turn out right,” Lilith said, looking down at the corn chowder unhappily, a spoon in one hand and the lid in the other.
“Oh? How so?” Gina asked, plucking the spoon out of Lilith’s hand and filling it. She blew on the spoon to cool the liquid, took a sip, and the sudden expression of shock was almost enough to make up for Lilith’s disgruntlement over how the soup had turned out.
“Um, what happened?” Rachel asked, setting the rolls aside as she pulled off the oven mitts. “I’m assuming that Gina agrees with you, based on her face.”
“The chowder turned out sweet,” Lilith explained, about the time that Gina swallowed.
“Sweet is one word for it! What did you do, dump sugar into the pot?” Gina protested, looking at Lilith with a faint look of betrayal.
“It wasn’t on purpose!” Lilith protested, gesturing toward the tablet next to the stove, which had the recipe she’d used pulled up. “The recipe said to put a can of cream on heat while cooking everything else, then to add it to the pot to help thicken the broth! I didn’t know it’d turn out like this.”
“Did it really…?” Gina began, stepping over to the tablet and scrolling through the recipe as her voice trailed off, then she spoke in disgust. “It did. Alright, I can’t really blame you, Lil, but I think that’s pretty much inedible, at least by me.”
“And if Gina isn’t willing to eat it, I don’t think I have the courage to try. Sorry, Lilith,” Rachel said apologetically. “I know you were looking forward to trying this out.”
“Looking forward to it doesn’t mean that it was a good idea. Not all of my meal plans turn out right,” Lilith said, looking at the pot forlornly, then let out a soft sigh. “I could force myself to eat it, but… what’s the point? Circe, would you reprocess the soup for the hydroponics?”
“Of course, Mistress Lilith,” Circe replied, and there was a soft hum as the pot began to float, then drifted toward a compartment on the counter that popped open. As it floated away, the AI continued. “Would you like me to make something for dinner as a replacement?”
“Um, any suggestions? Something good with rolls, I think…” Lilith said, looking at the rolls helplessly. Gina had already finished making the salad, so the only person whose contribution hadn’t worked out was hers, which just figured.
“Sloppy joes? Well, or the meat part, anyway?” Rachel suggested, shrugging. “My family always used some of the premixed meat and sauce from the store, and put it on rolls.”
“That seems rather messy. I’d say… bacon,” Gina said, eyeing the rolls, then the salad as she smiled. “Slice a tomato or two, steal some lettuce from the salad, and we can have BLTs. I think that would be pretty good… but I’ll leave it to Lilith. You okay with that, Rach?”
“Don’t call me that,” Rachel said automatically, her voice absent as she smiled. “Sure, though. What do you think, Lil?”
“I think that with my ego bruised, something like bacon sounds lovely,” Lilith said, sighing softly as she moved the dishes she’d dirtied into the washer. “Circe, please make some bacon for us?”
“Of course, Mistress Lilith. It will be done in two and a half minutes,” Circe replied.
“There, there… everyone makes mistakes, Lil,” Gina said, pausing to kiss Lilith’s cheek, and Lilith blushed, her disappointment easing as the blonde asked, “Care to help me with the tomatoes? I’m sure Rachel can handle the rolls without cutting herself.”
“I only did that once!” Rachel protested, prompting a soft chuckle from Lilith.
“Please try not to do it again?” Lilith said, setting things aside and pulling out a knife with a sigh. At least they had tomatoes.
Despite Rachel’s grumbling, they quickly got to work alongside one another companionably. The tomatoes were lovely, as Lilith expected, and Rachel quickly pulled out the rolls and cut them.
They weren’t even done when Circe delivered the bacon on a pan from the side compartment, and Lilith sometimes wondered if it was really more efficient to give Circe access to most of the cooking equipment from internal shafts rather than having her go through the front, but she quickly abandoned the thought. Circe would’ve chided her if she’d made inefficient design decisions, after all, and the bacon looked like it’d been perfectly cooked.
“Thank you, Circe. That looks excellent,” Rachel said, glancing at the bacon and smiling wryly. “Better than I could’ve cooked it, that’s for sure!”
“You’re welcome,” Circe said calmly, and Lilith shrugged, transferring the bacon to a plate and bringing it to the table.
“Are you trying to make me feel worse about my mistake? Because if so, you’re succeeding,” Lilith said, taking a seat across from Gina while Rachel sat to her right. She found it funny that they’d insisted on a round table, though she wasn’t entirely certain why.
“What? No, of course not! I was just thanking her for supplying it,” Rachel said, flushing as she continued. “Besides, you’re usually a better cook than I am. It’s just that you made a mistake this time, and that happens.”
“Mmhm!” Gina agreed, starting to build her first sandwich as she nodded. “You’re better than me, that’s for sure! I can do the basics, but anything more complex than a basic soup or something like that? Hah! I mostly make food from a box.”
“I suppose,” Lilith admitted, and began to put her own sandwich together, though she did regret the mistake. At least Circe recycled waste, allowing them to eat with relatively little impact on anyone else.
The meal was comfortable, though, and a tiny part of Lilith relished the silence and company of her two friends, even with their occasional differences. If they were all the same, she thought they’d get on each other’s nerves too easily. More importantly, she really enjoyed just being together and knowing that they weren’t buried under a mountain somewhere, hidden from the outside world and unable to go anywhere.
That brought a thought to mind, and Lilith paused, hesitating between bites, then she asked, “So, um… I had a thought. For a trip of sorts.”
“Oh?” Gina asked, pausing and tilting her head. “We just barely moved in, you know. You weren’t planning to go to, oh, Europe or something? Maybe visiting Vlad?”
“Europe? No, of course not!” Lilith said, and her stomach practically tied in knots at the thought of Vlad. “And definitely not visiting Vlad. Even if he helped get me pardoned, the idea of meeting him scares me. A lot.”
“That’s good, it means that you do have a functioning survival instinct,” Rachel said dryly, brushing a crumb from the edge of her mouth as she cleared her throat. “What sort of vacation were you thinking of?”
“Nothing too unusual, I don’t think. With the exercising we’ve been doing, I was just thinking that it would be interesting to go hiking in the mountains,” Lilith said, gesturing to their east as she considered, then added, “A more extensive vacation… well, there’re all those national parks in southern Utah that would be incredible to visit, or we could go to Yellowstone. I’d just like to se
e some of the more outdoor things, rather than indoors all of the time.”
“Hm. That isn’t a bad thought,” Gina said, sitting back in her chair as she considered. “I haven’t been to any of the national parks around here; I mostly visited the ones in California while growing up, and Crater Lake in Oregon. I don’t know that I’d be up for southern Utah in the summer with how hot it is, but Yellowstone… that sounds like it would be nice.”
“Assuming some villain doesn’t try to blow it up again while we’re there. That’d be just our luck,” Rachel groused, but smiled anyway as she nodded at Lilith. “But I agree with her, that does sound like it could be fun. Maybe we could even learn to ski or something when winter rolls around.”
“It is a good area for it,” Lilith said, relaxing as she realized that both of them liked the idea. “I just was trying to come up with things to do that would be interesting to me. Staying cooped up, or even performing heroics… well, they’re limiting. I want to go out and do new things.”
“Fair. Speaking of new things, don’t forget that we have my family coming to visit Wednesday,” Rachel warned, her smile fading slightly. “I hope we don’t have to search my sister for recording devices.”
“Halley wouldn’t do that, would she?” Gina asked, blinking at Rachel. “I mean, I know she’s rebellious, but…”
“She might not, but who’s to say that her classmates wouldn’t plant one on her?” Rachel said unhappily. “She is going to Paragon State, after all.”
“A fair point,” Lilith said, mentally adjusting to the change of discussion, then glanced up as she added, “At least the sensors should catch anything like that. Remember your ring?”
“Right, that one,” Rachel said, sighing and nodding reluctantly at the reminder of the tracking beacon that Ocean Spirit had put in her ring. “Well, we can hope.”
Queen's Move (Lilith's Shadow Book 3) Page 14
