by C H Gideon
The crowd shuffled, awe-stricken at the news. They hadn’t known the full extent of it.
“That ship is a threat to everyone, no matter how complex your planetary defense system is,” Ka’nak explained. “We have no idea if there are shock troops aboard or what their plans are, but it’d be stupid of you to split your people up now.”
The crowd, both Telluride and Grindlovians, leaned closer as he spoke, desperate to hear what this red-skinned alien being had to say. Maddox and Jiya shared a strange look as the Melowi warrior, more at home fighting than making speeches, continued his monologue.
“You would best be served by remaining together since there’s safety in numbers.” He put his arms behind his back and paced. “We can provide Gorad with schematics so that you can raise a militia and arm it to ensure that no military force can ever invade. You should bow before no one, stand tall, and show your pride before the gods and the universe.”
Then, without another word, Ka’nak stepped away from the crowd and rejoined the crew. The giant viewscreens around the planet dimmed in the wake of his proclamation.
“That was…uh, something,” Jiya said, flabbergasted.
The crowd still stared at the Melowi warrior, wide-eyed and enthralled.
San Roche spoke up then. “My people and I volunteer for service,” he announced. “We would protect our world and all its citizens.”
L’Sofee and L’Willow grinned and offered nods of approval.
Vor Stygn and Vor Hiln, of course, disagreed.
“This is yet another blatant attempt at forcing your people upon us, L’Sofee,” Vor Stygn argued. “We will not stand for this. We vote no!”
“I vote yes,” Gorad said, breaking the tie, and motioning toward San Roche. “You will be in charge of the militia. Reynolds and I will coordinate the production of weapons and armor.”
Vor Stygn stormed off, wheels spinning so fast that they squeaked. Vor Hiln remained, looking down at his lap before following the other council member.
Reynolds turned to address Maddox. “You will train them in the use of the weapons,” he ordered. He lowered his voice to continue, “And only you. Ka’nak is not to be involved.”
Maddox chuckled. “Understood.”
“He can train them to fight once we have a modicum of discipline in place to counteract his…enthusiasm.”
With their new society falling into place around them, the Telluride and the Grindlovians began to disperse. After a while, only the crew and Gorad were left in the council chambers.
“You really think they’ll need a militia?” Jiya asked.
Reynolds shrugged. “Probably not, given how robust Gorad’s space defense system is, but I don’t believe it can hurt for them to learn how to defend themselves should any of the other lines of defense fail. We should make sure they are prepared to overcome common obstacles, and military discipline will serve them well. Being born into service, they know how to follow orders, but can they think on their own in unknown high-stress situations?”
“They must become self-reliant for the future,” Gorad agreed. “I do wonder, however, how this move toward a Telluride military might work without any Grindlovians among them.”
“Well, they’re not physically fit and able to train or even carry a weapon,” Maddox pointed out.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about that ever since we got here,” Jiya told them. “The Grindlovians are atrophied, not having used their limbs and bodies in ages. That’s not something that can be overcome easily or quickly.”
“What do you suggest?” Reynolds asked.
“I’m thinking we run them through the Pod-docs and rebuild them a bit,” she said.
Reynolds nodded, impressed by the solution but seeing a problem with its implementation. “Given their condition, I doubt the Grindlovians could survive a Pod ride up to orbit for treatment. We would kill them before we had a chance to cure them.”
“Not necessarily,” Jiya interrupted.
Reynolds’s eyebrow rose into the air questioningly. “What do you have in mind?”
“We bring the ship to them,” Jiya suggested.
“Interesting,” Gorad mused, his expression making it clear he was contemplating that scenario and how it would help his people.
“That might just work,” Reynolds admitted. “We’d need to prepare first and finish the hull repairs, and it will take time to send a whole race of beings through the small number of Pod-docs we have available aboard the Reynolds.”
“Could you not transmit the technology to me?” Gorad asked. “With my production capabilities, I could easily manufacture the required number of these Pod-docs you speak of.”
Reynolds chuckled. “I don’t doubt that you could, Gorad, but Bethany Anne would tie my transistors in a knot and feed them to me through my ass if I offered that tech to you—or anyone, for that matter. That technology is not mine to give.”
Gorad sighed. “Then I supposed we will make do with what we have available. I would hate for your mistress to do you harm…mostly.” Gorad grinned at the other AI.
Reynolds grinned right back.
“Okay, I think it’s time for us to return to the ship,” Reynolds announced a moment later. “Maddox, stay here and begin the training. Recruit whoever you need from the Reynolds…”
“Except Ka’nak.”
“Come on! One little fight draws a little blood, and I’m on double-secret probation for the rest of my existence?”
“Except Ka’nak. Start helping these people get ready to be independent and equal members of society,” Reynolds told him. “We’ll prepare the Pod-docs and create a schedule to get all the Grindlovians up to snuff so their physical shortcomings are no longer an issue.”
“And since you’ve provided Gorad with the means to create a Gate eventually, maybe Ka’nak’s earlier idea about turning this place into a vacation-tourist spot might be something to look at seriously,” Jiya suggested. “Never a bad thing to get an influx of money and give the Telluride and Grindlovians a true calling.”
Gorad nodded his approval of the idea. “That is certainly something we can look into once we have the Gate established to allow visitors to easily come and go.”
“I’ll go up and prepare the ship and the Pod-docs,” Reynolds told Jiya and Ka’nak. “How about you two get with the council and help them until we finish with the Grindlovians?”
“Sure thing, boss,” Jiya replied, saluting.
The groups parted, Reynolds returning to the ship and Jiya and Ka’nak heading off to help the people prepare for the drastic changes ahead.
Jiya was pretty sure she’d learn almost as much as the Grindlovians and Telluride by the time they were done.
She was okay with that.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Days later, the Pod-docs prepped and running and Reynolds having brought the massive superdreadnought down to Grindlevik 3 and put it into a hover above the city, the reclamation of the Grindlovians began.
The crew ferried the Grindlovians to the ship in Pods, taking as many as each shuttle could carry and cycling them through the Pod-docs as quickly as possible.
Unwilling to give them any enhancements beyond repairing their natural forms, he set the devices so that the results would make the Grindlovians the same as the Telluride in strength and ability.
He made sure nanocytes were programmed for growth and structure repairs, shutting down and being expelled from the body once the patient had completed the process.
He’d set it up like an assembly line and got the Grindlovians in and out and moving under their own power quite rapidly, considering how many of them there were.
The shock of mobility set in shortly thereafter.
Grindlovians were falling all over the place, most of them having never walked in their entire lives. Only those who had used the powered legs for a time had any hope of remaining on their feet, and only barely.
Fortunately, they’d not done any more damage than bum
ps and bruises and the occasional sprain. The generous Telluride nature kicked in right away, and the golden beings went right back to helping the Grindlovians get around and took care of them until they could do it on their own.
To Reynolds’ surprise, the two races got along nicely, much like they had when the Reynolds first arrived, except that it felt more natural now, and more real.
There were, of course, pockets of resistance—groups on both sides who wanted nothing to do with the changes being implemented—but those same changes provided opportunities for those factions to start over elsewhere, living their lives however they wanted.
Fortunately, it seemed clear that the situation would not break out into violence again.
With the council having mostly changed hands the push for aggressive defiance had gone by the wayside, with only Vor Stygn instigating for it.
Gorad had shut him down quickly, and there’d been peace since then.
And now that the Grindlovians were nearly all physically recovered, Reynolds would get to return to space soon and follow up on what he’d learned while hacking into the Loranian cruiser.
He looked forward to turning his attention to a wily enemy. His challenges had been more ephemeral in dealing with the living beings. He wanted a challenge worthy of an AI.
There might well be peace on Grindlevik 3, but there was about to be an ass-kicking in space.
Months later, in celebration of all that the crew of the Reynolds had done for the people of Grindlevik 3, the Telluride and Grindlovians threw a party to thank them. They’d set it up outside of town, just this side of the forest and creek where Jiya had taken the Telluride swimming.
Jiya grinned from ear to ear as she plopped down on the grass beside Geroux in front of the spread-out blanket that served as a table. She and the rest of the crew had been helping to serve the Telluride and the Grindlovians both.
The Telluride mostly out of appreciation for having taken such good care of them while they were there, and the Grindlovians because many had yet to adapt to their new circumstances. It’d been funny at first, with the Grindlovians stumbling all over, but it had become a chore shortly after that.
They were only just beginning to get the hang of moving on their own.
Jiya was glad to take a few minutes and rest once the Grindlovians had settled for the night.
The rest of the crew felt the same.
Ka’nak rubbed his belly, having eaten everything set in front of him and much of what had been on the rest of the crew’s plates, as well. Maddox and Takal had shared a few drinks, and the pair had been discussing nonstop how the new agroprinters could be adjusted to create alcoholic beverages, much to Geroux’s annoyance.
The party wound down, and Jiya let the cool breeze flow through her hair as she stared into space. The first of the night’s stars began to appear.
One was brighter than the rest.
After a minute of staring at it, Jiya realized it wasn’t a star at all, but a Pod from the Reynolds.
She sighed. “Looks like playtime is over, folks,” she told the others, gesturing to the descending Pod.
It landed nearby and the hatch opened, beckoning them in.
The crew said their goodbyes and returned to the superdreadnought, full and tired and ready for a vacation from everything.
Too bad it didn’t work out that way.
Reynolds met them on the bridge, and he had something to tell them. He looked pensive.
“Let me guess,” Jiya grunted. “That asshole ship is moving again?”
“No, it’s stationary still,” Reynolds replied, “but the Loranian ship is why I called you all back.”
“Did something happen?” Asya asked, worry marring her expression.
“Yes and no,” Reynolds answered. “First, I wish to apologize for my treatment of you, Asya. I was reacting to this bit of news I’m about to share, and I went too far, perhaps.”
“You think?” Jiya asked, not willing to let Reynolds off the hook easily.
Reynolds nodded. “Yes, but I hope you understand. When Gorad and I examined his system for hacks, we stumbled across a remote access port that allowed us to travel to the Loranian ship and identify it.”
The crew gathered around him to listen.
“Before we were locked out of the system, I spied a trail of aberrant coding within the ship’s programming,” he reported. “That code was Kurtherian in nature.”
“I’m definitely shooting that motherfucker down now!” Tactical growled.
“Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?” Jiya asked.
“I wanted to process what it meant first,” he admitted. “The code is not blatantly Kurtherian, not pure, which means it’s unlikely that it’s Kurtherians piloting the Loranian cruiser. Still, there is enough evidence to make me believe that whoever is aboard that ship has had contact with Kurtherians, and recently. They might be able to lead us to them.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” XO asked. “Let’s go kick their asses and raid their databases.”
Reynolds grinned. “That was the plan. I just needed to ensure that the people of Grindlevik 3 were prepared to make it on their own,” he told the crew. “Now that they are, we can do what needs to be done regarding this sneaky fuck who’s been shadowing us.”
“Take your positions people,” XO called. The crew did as ordered.
“You think they’re going to let us get close to them again after the last time?” Tactical asked.
“They won’t see us coming, thanks to Ensign Alcott,” Reynolds answered, pointing at Ria. “Bring up the Gate drive and make a show of it again.”
“You’re going to make them run,” Maddox warned.
“They’re going to anyway,” Reynolds assured the general. “The idea, however, is to force them into making a mistake and either engaging us in a panic or giving us time to zero in on them and follow them like they’ve been following us.”
“You better have one hell of a plan lined up,” Tactical said.
“Oh, I do,” Reynolds replied. “Battlestations, folks. Here we go.”
Reynolds motioned to Ria and she opened a Gate in front of them. There was a ping of warning as she held position, engines ramping up.
A burst of railgun fire shrieked away from the Reynolds and flew through the Gate, and then it closed.
A second Gate opened an instant later.
“What the fuck are you—” Tactical started to say, but he never finished.
Ria pushed the Reynolds through the new Gate, and the ship was transported elsewhere.
It appeared a short distance from the Loranian cruiser, around the curve of the gravity well.
Flickers from energy weapons erupted ahead of them, and the alarms sounded as XO called, “Someone’s firing on the—”
“Oh, shit,” Tactical shouted, cutting XO off. “That’s our weapons firing.”
Sure enough, the blasts that had been fired by Ensign Alcott had been Gated behind the Loranian cruiser. While they did no damage to the enemy craft, the sudden attack had caught them off-guard.
The Reynolds, blocked from scans by the gravity well, much like the Loranian ship had been before Ria had accidentally discovered it, began to close on the other ship.
The enemy realized it at the last moment.
“Rip them a new one!” Reynolds ordered.
Tactical wasted no time complying. He opened up with the railguns and fired into the stern of the Loranian ship.
Shields deflected most of the damage, but Tactical scored a solid hit. Once more, atmosphere was vented into space as the ship fled the surprise attack.
“Don’t like it, do you?” Jiya shouted. “That’ll teach you to fuck with us.”
The Loranian ship Gated, but with the Reynolds directly behind it, there was no easy escape.
“Follow that asshole,” Reynolds ordered.
Ria stayed on the enemy craft, following it through the Loranian Gate.
They appeared a short dist
ance from the other ship, and Tactical opened fire before they’d even cleared the portal.
Once again, bit and pieces of debris flew from the cruiser, and Reynolds grinned when he saw one of the engines flicker after taking a hit.
Then the cruiser Gated again.
“They’re good,” Asya noted.
“Not good enough,” Reynolds argued as Ria accelerated into the Gate before it collapsed.
When the Reynolds emerged from the Gate, expecting to be dead on the cruiser, Reynolds was forced to admit that Asya had been right.
Whoever piloted the Loranian ship was good.
The Reynolds emerged into a gaseous anomaly that swallowed the ship whole.
“Damn it!” Tactical cursed. “Scanners are distorted.”
“Don’t let that twat-zombie get away!” Reynolds shouted as the displays lit up with dozens of warnings. “Launch external scanners and get a read on that ship now!”
“Launched,” Ria reported.
Jiya stared at the monitor in front of her, doing her best to track the Loranian ship’s passage, but the soupy cloud they’d flown into was hopelessly scrambling their scanners.
“Stay on them” Reynolds ordered.
But it was an order the crew couldn’t follow.
The Loranian ship disappeared into the murk of the anomaly, and the Reynolds was flying blind.
Reynolds was determined to keep searching, though.
Hours later, he finally gave in to reason.
Not peacefully, however.
“I can’t believe we lost them,” he cursed. “Take us out of this mess, and let’s do a few laps and see if we can locate them again.”
Ria did as she was told, and the ship emerged from the gaseous anomaly a short while later.
Only empty space greeted them.
The Reynolds circled the anomaly several times, the AI urging another pass after each one, but there was no sign of the Loranian cruiser even after they’d gone around four times.
“Looks like they got away,” XO announced. “No Gate signatures present nearby,” XO reported. “Wherever they went, they made sure we couldn’t follow them.”
