by C H Gideon
Maddox leaned back into his seat, and Geroux could see he was contemplating something serious. He stared at the ad hoc leader of the Telluride with narrowed eyes.
“We wish you no harm,” Geroux told the female, making sure she didn’t draw any conclusions from Maddox’s harsh gaze.
“I believe you,” L’Sofee replied. “We believe you,” she corrected. “Your people appear to have good hearts despite the differences that set us so far apart.” The female glanced at Ka’nak when she said that.
He buried his face into his cup and mumbled, “The kid was beat up when I got there, I swear.”
L’Sofee chuckled softly, her laughter sweet like a harp. “We did not come to you to point fingers, warrior,” she told the Melowi, who breathed a sigh of relief, blowing bubbles in his cup. “We actually came for your advice.”
Maddox stiffened in his seat, one eyebrow creeping up. “Advice?”
Maddox hadn’t been expecting that.
“Please, ask us anything,” Geroux offered.
L’Sofee smiled, offering a nod of thanks to Geroux. “It is quite a…complicated subject, I fear.”
“We’re quite the complicated people ourselves,” Takal replied after a loud burp. “And it appears that we have the time.”
The Telluride laughed, and L’Sofee smiled at the inventor.
“While we have everything we might need here on Grindlevik 3 and Gorad is quite generous in his care of us, my people wonder perhaps if we are missing out on something…more.”
The female paused to let her words sink in.
“I mean, just what little you’ve shown us since your arrival makes it clear there is much that we do not know and we would like to,” she went on. “Gorad does not restrict our learning or our ways, but to be completely truthful and, perhaps a bit blunt, we feel that we would be better off pursuing a life where we were not expected to care for the Grindlovians.”
“We would like to travel and learn. Be free in the truest sense of the word,” L’Willow told them.
Geroux sat back in her seat, surprised. She noticed then for the first time that the Telluride before them weren’t smiling.
That spoke volumes to Geroux. And before anyone else could get a word out, she answered for the rest. “Whatever you need, we’re here for you.”
“Sitrep,” Reynolds called as he and Jiya stormed onto the bridge.
Asya hopped out of the captain’s seat, relinquishing it to the metal AI.
“We’ve found our missing crew,” she announced, but the look on her face didn’t speak of good news.
Jiya held her breath, dreading the rest of Asya’s report.
“They’re alive,” she said, and Jiya huffed, closing her eyes in relief. “They’re hurt badly, but it looks as if they will pull through. Not sure how long they’ll be down, though.”
“Down is better than dead,” Reynolds said.
“Not by much,” Tactical complained. “That fucker came after us. Shot us when our backs were turned.”
“And he’ll pay for that if he actually did it,” Reynolds assured them, coming over and dropping into the seat Asya had vacated. “But I need to know for sure first.”
“What’s the plan?” Jiya asked, giving Asya a quick hug.
“We’re going to break a couple of eggs,” Reynolds replied, mechanical fingers flying in a blur over the console.
“We’re kicking Gorad in the nuts?” Tactical asked. “I’m right there with you on that, buddy.”
The viewscreen filled with data that scrolled past so fast that Jiya couldn’t even begin to recognize what it might be.
“Wait, you’re trying to hack him?” XO asked.
“That’s it?” Tactical spat. “How the hell is that breaking his little eggs?”
“If I can hack into his system, I can figure out if he really did mean to attack us. If he did, we’ll scramble the fuckers from the inside,” Reynolds shot back. “We need an inside track first.”
Tactical sighed, not liking Reynolds’ decision.
“He’s rising to meet us,” XO called.
“I can see that,” Reynolds retorted. “Got anything helpful to add?”
“That he’s blocking you so far?” XO answered.
“Do I really need to stress the helpful part?” Reynolds asked.
“Apparently,” Asya told him, staring at the screen alongside Jiya. Neither of them had any clue what the mess of data meant.
“Damn, he’s good,” XO muttered.
Reynolds cursed under his breath, focused as he was on the console. “He’s got some serious chops,” Reynolds admitted. “He keeps redirecting my attacks and sniffing out my feints.”
“You need to sucker punch him like he did the ship,” Tactical told him.
“If you have an idea how to do that from here, please share,” Reynolds requested.
“I say we trigger the ESD and send the Trojan Horse of Fuck You right up his backdoor.”
“As much as I would like to blow this asshole away, we’re not exactly in a position to walk away from a move like that,” Reynolds warned.
“Given how much damage that one ship did to us, I tend to agree with Reynolds,” Asya announced. “Doesn’t help that we have that other ship floating around out there either.”
“Other ship?” Reynolds asked, pausing for an instant before going back to the hack in progress.
“Oh, yeah,” Asya replied, her voice dropping. “Forgot to mention that, given all the drama.”
“I’m not sure I like this new development,” Reynolds told her.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, the mystery ship was the first development and the attack the more recent of the pair,” Tactical argued.
“That’s not really helping, Tactical,” Asya told him.
“I’d shrug to show you how much I care but, you know…” Tactical replied.
“Tell me about the other ship later,” Reynolds snapped. “Right now, I need to focus on Gorad.”
When Ensign Ria shuffled in her seat and sniffed, Jiya was surprised to realize that the young female had been there the entire time. Jiya waved to her, and Ria waved back, slinking once more into her chair to await orders.
“Damn it!” Reynolds shouted a moment later and the screen flickered, the text dancing sideways for a second.
“He’s countering,” XO announced. “Need to make sure he doesn’t slip in on your link.”
“He won’t,” Reynolds growled. “I only need to…” his voice faded as he concentrated on the cyber attack.
“Looks like you’re getting your ass kicked,” Tactical mentioned. “You’re losing ground.”
“I’m not losing ground,” Reynolds shot back. “It’s called a tactical retreat.”
“Maybe you’ve forgotten that I’m the tactical genius here, not you,” Tactical reminded. “You’re getting your metal ass punted, Reynolds.”
“Gorad’s hailing us,” Comm announced.
“Put him onscreen.”
As before, only the logo of the Grindlevik 3 Space Defense appeared.
Reynolds stifled a chuckle at seeing it, knowing he’d almost torn off the android’s head and that was why he’d been forced to use the logo.
“I don’t appreciate this, Reynolds,” Gorad warned. “Immediately cease your attempts to hack my system.”
“And we sure as shit don’t appreciate you hurting our people,” Asya shouted.
“As I told Reynolds, I did not attack you or your ship,” Gorad told her. “What purpose would it serve?”
“Who the hell knows with you crazy AIs,” Asya shot back, then cringed, clearly remembering once again the company she kept. “No offense, guys,” she said to Reynolds’ splinter personalities.
“Still some taken every time you say that shit,” Tactical grunted.
“There is much we can learn from each other, Reynolds,” Gorad told him, “and I would not risk that by dragging you into conflict with me.”
“He’s only saying
that because you’re hacking into his system,” Asya argued. “He doesn’t want you to see the truth hidden in there.”
“He’s not really,” XO clarified.
Reynolds sighed and sat upright, leaning away from the console, admitting defeat as Gorad shut down the last of Reynolds’ hacking attempts. “No, I’m really not.” His console went black.
“I have far more experience defending my system than you have in hacking it, Reynolds,” Gorad said. “While you are clearly skilled, I can repel you indefinitely given the nature of my system.”
“Can you repel an array of railguns?” Tactical asked.
“I admit that I cannot,” Gorad admitted, “but I would hope that we can clear things up before we reach that point.”
The screen fluttered, and the logo disappeared only to be replaced by a copy of the android body Reynolds had destroyed, much to his disappointment.
“It was not me,” he stressed, “but it was clear that something or someone manipulated one of my craft to attack you. Please, allow me to help you investigate so we both know it will not happen again.”
Asya sneered and Jiya came over to stand alongside Reynolds, staring back at the alien AI on the screen.
“Give us a second,” she said, signaling for Comm to mute communications for a minute.
Comm shut it down.
“I don’t trust this AI,” she said once she knew Gorad couldn’t hear or see them talking.
“Neither do I,” Asya announced.
“Nor do I,” Reynolds said, “but I believe he is telling us the truth.”
“And if he is?” Jiya asked. “What does that mean for us?”
“It means we have another problem besides Gorad,” Reynolds explained.
“You mean besides the other ship floating out there, which happens to have used the exact same Gate coordinates as us to get here?” Asya asked.
“Something like that, yeah,” Reynolds replied. “Seems we’ve got a couple of problems floating around, but I don’t think Gorad is a threat to us.”
“Does that mean we won’t be kicking his ass?” Tactical asked.
“Looks that way,” Jiya grunted, wanting a piece of Gorad herself for what had happened to the crew and ship.
But if he truly hadn’t done it, she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at him.
Reynolds motioned for Comm to reopen the channel.
“We’ll take you at your word…for now,” Reynolds told the other AI. “Explain to me how we go about investigating this…glitch, as you called it?”
“Do you have bots aboard?” Gorad asked.
“I do.”
“Good,” the other AI said with a nod. “You’ll need them to board the ship that attacked you, then I will direct you to where you can access the mainframe computer within the wreckage.”
Reynolds stood there for a moment without saying anything, then signaled for the bots to be launched. “Go get that computer, boys,” he said as the repair bots were shot into space. “We’ll relay instructions from here.”
Gorad explained the sequence and location, which went a long way toward Jiya feeling more comfortable trusting the alien AI, seeing as how he was revealing the secret of his destroyer fleet’s automation.
A short while later, the bots had secured a dozen pieces of the mainframe, which had been destroyed when Reynolds fought back. The bots had managed to collect all the parts Gorad deemed necessary and had returned to the hangar bay unscathed. They loaded the parts onto the Pod.
“Bring the pieces down to the planet, and I will arrange for a private space where we can examine the mainframe for corruption or system failure. We will get to the bottom of this.”
The screen went blank as Gorad disconnected.
Reynolds stood there staring at the black viewscreen for several moments.
“We doing this, boss?” Jiya asked, nudging his arm.
“Yeah, let’s get it over with.” Reynolds nodded. “Keep the ship’s shields up and the engines running, folks,” he told Asya, Ensign Alcott, and the other AI personalities. “We can’t have a repeat of this, no matter what we find down there. We got lucky last time that no one died. I don’t see us staying lucky if it happens again.”
Jiya and Reynolds left the bridge, headed for the hangar bay. He marched ahead, still frustrated and angry about what had happened.
For her part, Jiya was glad Reynolds was on her side. And if Gorad wasn’t, he would soon find out just how pissed off Reynolds really was.
Then there would be an ass-kicking coming.
Chapter Eleven
Back on Grindlevik 3, Reynolds and Jiya reunited with the rest of the crew.
“Boy, do we have some news for you,” Geroux told them, but Reynolds waved the young tech aside.
“Later, Geroux,” he said, shaking his head to make it clear now was not a good time.
“Okay,” she replied, giving Jiya a sideways glance, looking for an explanation.
“We’re off to examine the mainframe parts of the destroyer that attacked the Reynolds. Gorad is preparing a room for us.”
Geroux’s eyebrows rose in unison. “So, Reynolds believes the other AI didn’t intentionally go after our people?”
“He’s leaning that way,” Jiya told her friend. “We’ve yet to be sure, though.”
“Your hovercraft is ready,” L’Willow announced from the door of the dining hall where Reynolds and Jiya had gone to meet with the crew while Gorad prepared his investigation room.
Takal stared across the table at the collection of drinks Geroux had pulled away from him and sighed. “One for the road?” he asked.
Geroux rolled her eyes and ignored her uncle as he grabbed a cup to take with them. Ka’nak followed suit, then grabbed a second one to be sure.
“In case I spill one,” he explained as he and Takal made their way toward the hovercraft.
Jiya saw Geroux watching her uncle walk and knew she was checking to see if the older male was drunk. He didn’t appear to be, walking perfectly normally with his shuffling gait, so Geroux shook her head and gave up.
Reynolds followed the two drinkers, thanking L’Willow and San Paget for their kindness before he left.
Jiya waved at the pair of aliens, then took her friend’s hand. They went out after the rest of the crew and joined them in the craft, the one bot they’d carted along to carry the computer pieces already in the vehicle.
Unmanned, the hovercraft took off at a fast clip, shooting down the road toward where the crew had visited the droid factory.
They circled around that and came to what looked like a dreary gray warehouse that had just been assembled. It gleamed of new metal and fresh—albeit drab—paint.
“You’ve got a thing for gray, Gorad,” Reynolds said, knowing the other AI would hear him.
There was no response, however.
The doors of the warehouse eased open in front of the crew as they left the hovercraft, and Reynolds led the way inside. The bot began gathering the computer parts and carrying them inside.
Jiya knew Reynolds was still feeling guilty about what had happened and was putting on a brave front, diving in to solve the problem before anything else could happen.
She knew that they would.
Once in the newly-created room, Jiya was surprised to see how effectively Gorad had arranged it for a forensic analysis of the destroyer’s computer system.
A long workstation was set in the middle of the room with a row of mechanical arms hanging above from a mount on the ceiling. A pair of large monitors were set upon the mount, facing the crew.
The rest of the room was empty and dark …and, of course, quite gray.
Gorad was already in the room, standing behind the workstation and waving the crew and Reynolds in. The bot set the pieces of the computer on the workstation table, and Gorad spread them out as the bot went to get the next section.
Reynolds came to stand face to face with Gorad over the table. The two AIs stared at each other for
several minutes without saying anything. It wasn’t until the bot had placed the last piece of the destroyer’s computer that Gorad gave in.
“Thank you for joining me here,” he said, offering a shallow nod to Reynolds. “And thank you for not kicking this android’s head off.”
Despite himself, a smile split Reynolds’ metal face. “You’re welcome,” he replied grudgingly, though Jiya was sure he still wanted to kick the other AI’s head off again.
She did, too.
“This could take some time,” Gorad warned. “You might want to send your crew to continue with their mission.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Reynolds asked.
“I enjoy seeing the Telluride and Grindlovians advance,” Gorad said, nodding. “Your people are teaching them much that they did not know before, and it is good for them.”
“And for you?”
“Certainly,” the alien AI admitted. “Knowledge is always appreciated.”
Reynolds stood for a moment, staring down the other AI before finally turning around and waving the crew over.
“All of you but Jiya, go back to what you were doing earlier,” Reynolds ordered, nodding to let them know it was okay. “We’ll stay here and put the puzzle together and see what it tells us.”
“You sure?” Geroux asked. “I can help.”
“You’ll be helping by going back to what you were doing,” he replied. “Jiya and I can handle this.”
“Yes, sir!” she answered, sneaking a hug from Jiya first.
“Back to drinking?” Takal asked.
“Back to teaching,” Geroux corrected.
“Better you than me, Takal,” Ka’nak said, grinning. “I have a game of chess waiting for me back at the lot. I was winning, too.”
The crew departed, leaving the bot behind with Jiya and Reynolds. It drifted into the corner and sat there rigidly, awaiting new orders.
Gorad signaled for the mechanical arms to begin their work and circled around to join Reynolds and Jiya.
“We will soon find out why my ship attacked yours,” Gorad promised.
“We’d better,” Reynolds shot back, “or you and I are going to have words.”
