Michael Anderle - [Heretic of the Federation 03]

by Time to Fear (epub)

  They flared to life, brighter than before.

  “That would be rude,” Roma told her. “We’re in the middle of a conversation.”

  Ivy pulled the pillow over her head. “Not anymore.”

  The lights began to flash and a low beep emanated through the room.

  “Roma!” she wailed.

  “So,” the AI said, and her voice carried through the beeps. “You can’t work out when to tell John that you have a hereditary disease and it could adversely affect you later in life.”

  She rolled onto her back with a groan. “Yes.”

  The beeping stopped. “And you raised this with me because?”

  “Ugh. Because I thought you might be helpful.”

  The lights stopped flashing and dimmed a little, so she pulled the pillow off her face.

  “So you need my advice?” Roma asked, and the girl nodded.

  “I don’t want to worry him when he has training,” she admitted. “It’s bad enough that I’m distracted.”

  “And you don’t think he’ll notice?” the AI challenged.

  “Well, it’s not like we’re training together,” she reminded her, and Roma chuckled.

  “Not yet.”

  “So, maybe I should tell him when we start.”

  “Before or after you get him blown up?” the AI asked, and Ivy sighed.

  “What about when I know more about how the treatments are working,” she suggested.

  “Unless they start to affect your performance,” Roma countered.

  “Fine!” she agreed.

  “Or if he notices and wants to know why you’re upset.”

  Ivy pulled her pillow over her face again but whipped it off when she remembered the bleeping.

  “Yes, okay. If either of those things happens, I’ll tell him sooner,” she conceded. “Are you happy now?”

  “Only if you feel better. Do you?”

  She repositioned the pillow. “Yes, Roma. I feel fine now,” she admitted and was surprised to find it mostly true. “Thank you for the talk.”

  “You are most welcome, Ivy,” the AI replied, not sure whether or not to believe her.

  She was about to withdraw when the girl spoke again.

  “Roma?”

  “Yes, Ivy?”

  “Can you please turn the lights out?”

  “Yes,” the AI said and did so immediately.

  When Ivy’s vital signs showed she’d settled into sleep, Roma turned to Remy.

  “I am not sure I helped,” she said, and Remy laughed.

  “You helped a lot.”

  “But I didn’t tell her anything she did not already know.”

  “True.”

  “Then what was the point?”

  “She needed to talk to someone to decide which path to take. Hearing the options she was aware of and having the points of operational repercussions repeated helped.”

  “But she already knew those.”

  “She needed to undergo a process humans call ‘talking it out.’”

  “It’s inefficient,” Roma grumbled.

  “It is less efficient to tell them to make up their minds,” Remy told her, “and you did not do that.”

  “I computed the odds of that advice being effective in helping her solve the dilemma she is facing as very low,” Roma admitted. “I do not understand how the process we have undertaken helps as much as it does.”

  “Human logic is wired differently,” he advised sagely, and she sparked with frustration.

  “Humans are too complicated,” she complained.

  “And yet, they created us,” he replied.

  Two days later, Ivy and John took their usual seats in the mess. The glass front allowed them to look out into the corridor and gave the room a more open feel. It was a pleasant change after the pods.

  “I put Frog into a wall today.” She grinned with smug satisfaction.

  “That is a good feeling,” he agreed. “How did you go with Lars?”

  Her smile faded. “One day…” she vowed. “One day…”

  He chuckled, lifted his coffee, and sipped it.

  One of the drones flew out of the kitchen and set down a basket of pastries.

  “At least they feed us before blowing us up again,” he said and nudged the basket closer to her.

  “And they have chocolate.”

  “I thought you liked coffee.”

  “That too,” she told him, “but today, it’s chocolate.”

  “Right… Ivy’s hot drink preferences change at random. Noted,” he teased, and she blushed and changed the subject.

  “I hacked into the comms network today,” she told him, and his jaw dropped.

  “Ives, is that safe?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It was a sim, so of course it was safe. You don’t think they’d put the compound at risk like that, do you? That would be silly.”

  John relaxed. “I suppose you’re right, but the comms network… You are talking the Regime’s Earth network, aren’t you?”

  Ivy bounced happily and took another pastry. “Yep.”

  Her happiness made him smile. “Of course you are. Tell me, what did you break?”

  She gave him an innocent look and then ruined the effect with a slightly sheepish expression. “Nooooothing…”

  He snickered. “Uh-huh. Sure, you didn’t.”

  Despite her slightly chagrined look, she giggled. “I had to get in, drop a time-release virus that would declassify all the Regime emails and secure comms and redirect them to the Under-Net, and I had to get out again without being detected.”

  John’s eyebrows rose. “And did you?”

  “Right up until Ted hit me with a security program used for detecting and destroying anomalies and tied it to a three-strand tracking program. I don’t think I’ve been shot and electrocuted before—or taken apart in the virtual and the real.” She sobered and took another sip of hot chocolate. “That hurt.”

  He resisted the urge to ruffle her hair as she changed the topic.

  “How about you?”

  “Well, I remembered to not mix nMU and eMU this time,” he told her, “but then Steph decided ‘her boys’ needed help.”

  Ivy snickered. “Ouch! I can only imagine what that was like.”

  “I still zapped her,” he told her. “Once.”

  They both laughed as he chose a pastry, and they ate in companionable silence and watched the admiral walk wearily down the corridor and through the door.

  None of them were aware they were the subject of a conversation between the three AIs.

  “I am pleased with her progress,” Roma said in response to her uncle’s question. “Her fighting skills are advancing to an acceptable level, and her hacking—”

  “I observed,” Ted told her. “I hope you don’t mind the tweaks.”

  She chuckled. “Not at all. I was wondering how I could keep her from being too cocky.”

  “Well, that is certainly a lesson she won’t forget,” Remy observed. He focused briefly on his sister. “I think you’ve outgrown the need for my advice.”

  Roma let her surprise show. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Although I have been careful to follow the protocols, even if I have questioned some.”

  “Your assessments of some of the older ones have been quite accurate,” Ted assured her, “and the responses you formulated regarding their shortfalls were more than adequate. I agree with Remy’s conclusion.” He turned to Remy. “Which means I need to contemplate your next task since Roma’s advancement in capability means she no longer needs your advice.”

  “Or to have my help when dealing with the humans she encounters,” Remy added, and Roma withdrew a little in embarrassment, but Ted’s response brought her back.

  “Agreed. Your ‘talk through’ with Ivy was most adequate,” he informed her. “This despite me beginning to wonder if you’d gone too far with the lights.”

  “She had not reached a satisfactory conclusion,” Roma replied and added softly,
“and I couldn’t think of another alternative.”

  “It worked,” her uncle told her and focused on her brother, “which only leaves me the dilemma of what to do to take up the capacity you have left after helping me with the teams. Do you have any ideas?”

  If Remy had been human, he’d have shaken his head. “Although I must admit, I do wish there was a way I could be on operations with John.”

  Again, Roma felt that brief focus of attention, then Remy continued.

  “I miss the action, and frankly, there is no reason for me to be here holding Roma’s hand. No offense.”

  She managed a surprised, “None taken,” before Ted responded.

  “I will admit that you being here is throwing a wrench into the normal expectations of what an AI should do,” he said. “It was not a possibility I foresaw when I assigned you the task.”

  He monitored the admiral’s progress into the mess and noticed the man’s eyes light up when he saw the pastry basket. Amaratne nodded to the two youngsters at the table as he made a beeline for the coffee pot on the side bench.

  The young couple watched as he poured himself a cup as black as pitch. This time, he didn’t bother with cream or sugar. When he caught them staring, he raised the cup and crossed the space to join them.

  “The blood that runs the ships is not the fluid in the ship’s shell but the caffeine-laced liquid inside the humans who consume it by the barrel.”

  The three AIs remained quiet but chuckled as Ivy glanced at John and the young mage shrugged and mouthed “Old people?” in response.

  The girl smirked and they turned to the admiral and noted that he looked slightly younger than before. Before either of them could comment, however, he took a croissant out of the basket and waved it at them.

  “We have a plan,” he announced and studied their faces. “One we will all have to work to implement.”

  “Do tell,” Ivy responded, and he downed his coffee and grimaced at the bitter taste.

  “For that, I need the three of us to meet in the Virtual.”

  “Is this what Roma meant when she said we’d have a change of pace?” she asked, and the admiral shrugged.

  “Well, if it isn’t, we’ll be doing something wrong.” He finished his croissant and took his cup to the counter. “Coming?” he asked as he strode to the door.

  The young couple exchanged glances, drained their cups, and placed them on the table.

  “Hold up.”

  “Be right there.”

  None of the AIs intervened when they reached their pods and headed into the avatar room, where they geared up. Ivy added her hacking equipment before she completed her usual load-out like John and the admiral did.

  “Are we ready?” Amaratne asked, and the two youngsters nodded. “Roma?”

  The avatar room vanished and they reappeared in another hangar space.

  “You need to reach the station command center,” the AI informed them, “take it, and hold it until reinforcements can secure the rest of the station.”

  “Got it,” Amaratne said and the lights began to strobe around them.

  “The concourse is that way,” Ivy told them.

  “We need to make sure they don’t vent the hangar,” the ex-admiral observed.

  John pivoted and ran to the airlock as it began to cycle open.

  Ivy ran to keep up with him, and the older man followed.

  “Ivy, get the door,” the young mage ordered, and she sprinted to the controls.

  She’d almost reached it when the glass on the concourse windows blew outward and glass shards sliced through them.

  “That”—Ivy half-choked when she came to in the white room—“was cheating, Roma.”

  The AI snickered. “You should have seen your faces!”

  “Not funny, Roma,” John grumbled as the admiral rolled to his knees.

  “What the everloving—” he began and lurched to his feet as the white room vanished.

  This time, they fell prone the minute they arrived.

  “What happened with the windows?” the boy asked.

  “I have no idea,” Amaratne told him, and the airlock cycled a second time.

  “Here they come,” Ivy warned and began to crawl toward the concourse.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m looking for a different entrance,” she said and glanced over her shoulder.

  A few yards before she reached it, the windows blew out again, but this time, the glass shards passed harmlessly overhead and her companions had almost caught up.

  “Well, that’s one obstacle taken care of,” the older man observed.

  He moved from a crawl to a half-crouch and bolted forward to flatten himself against the door to the concourse. The airlock opened as the youngsters followed his example.

  John and Ivy reached for the door controls at the same time but realized what Amaratne was doing.

  “Seriously?” the boy asked as he knocked Ivy away from the door and Amaratne rolled clear on the other side.

  Flechettes drove through the space they’d occupied before the door blew inward.

  “Go, go, go!” the admiral shouted, and they bolted into the concourse.

  “Which way?” John asked, and they stopped to work it out.

  That, of course, meant none of them were watching the Dreth come through the concourse doors—and that none of them saw when one of them swung their arm in a gentle underhanded pitch.

  They all heard the three grenades hit the floor, albeit momentarily.

  This time, when they came to in the white room, they simply lay on the floor.

  “That didn’t go well,” Amaratne commented.

  “No, it did not,” the boy agreed.

  “Ouch,” Ivy complained. “That was seriously sneaky.”

  The others murmured their agreement and they all rolled slowly to their feet.

  “I think,” the admiral began, “that we need to work out how to trust each other more.”

  “Yup,” John agreed.

  “And maybe what roles we’ll have when we’re on an op,” Ivy suggested.

  “And whether we’ll open a door or blow a hole in the wall,” the young mage added.

  “And who will be responsible for finding the route,” Amaratne said. “We have to be able to trust each other, even if our operations are separate.”

  They nodded.

  “Agreed,” John said and looked down at himself to check for holes.

  His companions looked at themselves and then at each other.

  “So,” Ivy said, “do we know how we can not get ourselves exploded next time?”

  Amaratne snorted.

  “Let’s see what the scenario is and decide,” he suggested and they nodded.

  “Or we could work out what our—” She stopped as the white room twisted away.

  “Hold onto your hats,” Ted’s voice greeted them as they appeared in another shuttle.

  He didn’t wait for them to respond but threw up a picture on the shuttle’s forward screens.

  “Kitchener’s Hollow,” he told them. “A lunar base taken by pirates and targeted by the Marines in the last war. Your task is three-fold—secure the communications, free the hostages and safeguard them, and exfiltrate all the data you can find on pirate operations.”

  “I don’t suppose these objectives are clustered in one space?” Amaratne asked, and the AI chuckled.

  “Admiral, you oversaw enough operations to know that it is never that simple,” Ted told him. “I have forwarded the base layout to your HUDs.”

  “What plans are in place for extraction?” the man asked, “given that none of us can fly.”

  “You are to secure the communications area and hold there for reinforcements,” the AI told them. “They will get you out.”

  “Understood,” Amaratne said, but he didn’t look happy.

  “You have five minutes to touch down, at which point the shuttle will land and you will be on your own.”

  �
�And is this landing authorized?” John asked.

  “Until the pirates realize the shuttle is not one of their own, the landing is authorized,” Ted replied.

  “And I don’t suppose you’ll tell us when that will be?” Ivy asked.

  The AI chuckled. “You’re the hacker, Ivy. I assume you can work it out.”

  She looked at her two teammates. “I could go into the system but I can’t guarantee I’ll be done by the time we land.”

  “Five minutes,” Ted reminded them and left them to it.

  “These are the schematics,” Amaratne told them and put the base plans on the viewscreen in front of them.

  “It looks like we’ll have to split up,” Ivy said when she saw the distance between the base communications, server, and holding areas.

  “Yup,” Amaratne agreed. “We’re gonna have to trust each other to get the job done.”

  “I’ll go for the hostages,” John told them and fielded their surprised looks with a shrug. “I can hack, but I’m out of touch. I suspect Ivy’s had more recent practice than me.” He looked at Amaratne. “And I assume you know more about the layout and operation of a communications section than either Ivy or me, so you’re probably the best person for that.”

  The admiral gave him a thoughtful look. “I do know—or did know—how to operate most of the basic systems.” He glanced at the schematic and pulled up the mission files, and his shoulders relaxed a fraction. “I can operate this system, yes.”

  “So that leaves me the hostages,” John reiterated. “I have the magic to shield them once I reach them and eliminate most opposition.” He looked at Ivy. “I’ll need help with the doors, and you don’t have to be with me for that. You could hack the data system and unlock them for me, couldn’t you?”

  She thought about it. “I could…”

  “And me,” Amaratne added. “I’d get to the comms center faster if I didn’t need to worry about blasting through every door en route.”

  “And I can lock doors, too,” Ivy realized. She pointed at the map. “I might not even need to be in the data server to get the information we need. If that’s the case and I can access the system from somewhere else, I can hide and get you both through.”

  “And I can put a shield around you,” John added. “So, if we find you a hiding place before we split up, I’ll shield you so you can’t be seen, you open the way into the base, and I’ll shield myself and the admiral until we have to go our separate ways.”