Alaka and Jake led the way between several ancient maglev transit cars. They were two decks high and eleven meters across. Judging from the thick dust they were kicking up the tunnel had been abandoned for a very long time. “Why did they close all this up?” asked one of Alaka's children as he clung on his father's back and poked his head over his shoulder. He was from the middle litter, just barely a pre-teenager.
“They made a system that could travel horizontally and up and down so people didn't have to go from the rail cars to elevators as much when they got to the space port.”
“You and Mom used to tell me never to go there.”
“The Spaceport?”
“Yeah.”
“You remember why, don't you Temin?”
“I remember.”
“Say it aloud,” Alaka pressed gently.
“Because you and Mom didn't want slavers to grab us and take us away,” his son said quietly between sniffs as he pointed his snout in the air then directly ahead.
“That's right, but we have to go there now.”
“Because there's a ship ready to take us to the Triton,” he struggled to climb higher up on Alaka, almost coming over his shoulder as he sniffed the darkness ahead. “They're close dad.”
“I know, go see your mother,” Alaka said gently.
His son kept on sniffing the air, closing his eyes and ignoring his father's instructions.
“Go to your mother Temin,” Alaka said more firmly.
The boy hopped off his father's back and bounced off one of the old transit cars before running back to the rear of the line, where his mother and the rest of their children followed in the main group.
“He's a good boy, that one. He wanted to hunt rim weasels with me,” Alaka said quietly to Jake as he adjusted the strap on his massive improvised beam cannon.
“I like him, and he's right, we're getting close,” Jake said with a nod towards a light in the distance. He brought up a small sub display window on his visor and increased the magnification. There wasn't anything to see just yet, only the gradual curve of the corner with light hitting the far wall, but he knew that just around that corner they'd find the other group of refugees, led by Oz, Jason, Minh and Ayan.
His stomach was in knots despite the effort he made on concentrating on the longer goal; getting off Pandem and out to the safety of the stars if not directly back to Triton.
The temptation to initiate communications with his ship, to reach out and see if they were listening was incredible. Though it was almost more than he could stand he couldn't do it, there was a good chance they would respond and give away their position and it just wasn't time for that yet.
“We're almost there,” Jake said over the general command channel. “Just around the corner.”
“We'll be ready to move as soon as you get here,” Ayan replied.
Jake watched the magnified screen closely as they came out from between the last of the old transit cars. Even though they were far underground and the darkness of the tunnel was still pressing down on them, it felt like they were moving out of being trapped in a small space, into a much broader, freer environment. It was an easy feeling to enjoy and as Jake looked on Ayan and Jason came into view.
They were still over a hundred meters away, but as watched them the mental image of the Ayan he had met on Triton, of her final, parting smile, began to fade. It was replaced with what was right before his eyes. Her dark grey poncho hood was up, a few blonde curls had fought their way free and dangled down the front. She was happy, talking to Jason about something he couldn't overhear. There were differences, she was shorter, she'd gone blonde, and dimples played in cheeks that were thicker than he recalled, but she was still Ayan, she was still the most beautiful sight he'd ever laid eyes on.
The people behind her came into view. They looked more sullen but watched Jason and Ayan or spoke amongst themselves casually. It was good to see new faces, other survivors. It was incredible that anyone had survived the wasteland above the tunnels. All that wholesale destruction brought on by the Order of Eden couldn't eliminate all life in the city of Damshir and it was encouraging.
He had never been with a group of people who knew how to survive as well as those behind and beside him and he wouldn't have believed it unless he had seen it for himself. The things he'd done in his past career as a hunter seemed small compared to the hardships imposed on the survivors by Regent Galactic and the Order of Eden's West Watcher army.
The thought that his ship, Triton, a heavily armed close combat carrier with thousands aboard might be just in orbit, so close yet so far away nagged at him. Once he got aboard he would find out how the crew and ship were, situate the survivors who wanted to remain and help with the ship and then get to work.
The galaxy had to know what was going on and he knew that Ayan would stand right beside him along with his other friends from Freeground. He would do everything he could to make change happen, to expose the West Watchers and Regent Galactic while they worked together to strike at their most sensitive targets. For the first time in his own short life he felt he was about to have something he dared not hope for; allies.
The feeling of being alone, the one others relied upon while he felt he could rely on no one or no thing was starting to recede, then everything changed.
“Duck and cover!” shouted Oz on the open command channel.
Everyone Jake could see scrambled and hid behind some of the ancient wreckage then there was a rush of air and dust. Ayan, Jason and everyone behind them disappeared in darkness. He unslung his rifle and broke into a run.
“Get everyone who isn't fighting behind the rail cars!” Alaka called behind as he began charging his improvised beam cannon and started to run. “Jake! Be careful!” he called after him.
A rush of energy weapons fire filled the air, sparking in the dust and discolouring the light ahead. A heavy disruption shot caught Jake squarely in the shoulder and the next time he opened his eyes — just seconds later — he was on the ground between Alaka and Vernen. The other rebels were all catching up, ready to join the fight.
“-wait, we're going into the spaceport. Can you hear me Jake?” Ayan was saying over his communicator.
“I hear you, take cover and get safe, we'll take care of the ones behind you,” Jake answered as he rolled over onto his stomach and flexed the numbness out of his hand.
“I've never seen someone drop like that with no damage to their armour, are you all right?” Alaka asked.
“Fine, I think I just took a big electrical jolt from whatever hit me.”
“Does your girlfriend have a reset switch too?” Vernen snickered.
“She's an officer, and a better soldier than you'll ever be,” Jake replied.
“We're inside, sealing the doors behind us but I don't know how much time that will buy us,” Ayan was saying in his subdermal earpiece, out of breath.
“All right, we're coming,” Jake replied as he looked into the clearing dust. “What do you think Alaka?”
“They don't consider us much of a threat,” he said as he lowered the long protective visor on his improvised helmet. The face protection had been welded together using whatever material the hull of the starfighter he had taken his beam weapon from one could assume. The colour and metals were a perfect match. “They're concentrating on getting that door open.”
“Let's rush them,” Jake suggested as he mentally counted at least three squads of soldiers filling the tunnel. “I doubt they know how well armed we are.” He brought the power level of his rifle up to maximum, he would only get nineteen shots before he'd have to reload but each one would cause a small explosion as the superheated energy struck solid material.
“You're crazy, go ahead,” sneered Vernen.
Alaka burst to his feet with a roar, followed by Jake and everyone else who carried a weapon. The air vibrated as his beam cannon cut across the soldiers, super heating the metal rail ties that they used as cover and mercilessly cutting down a dozen West Keeper troops who were caught completely off guard. Jake and the rest of the rebels opened fire as well, doing their part to push the enemy back and do enough damage to represent four times their number. Surprise was on their side, the West Watch commanders had underestimated or had somehow neglected to notice them at all.
Within seconds the tunnel ahead was littered with corpses and the recall order was given by the other side. Alaka drew a rifle with each great paw as he gave his beam weapon time to regenerate its power reserves and fired at the retreating soldiers. “Everyone break for the entrance!” he called out loud enough for the civilians to hear him without the assistance of a communicator.
“Everyone move up! We're heading into the station!” Jake relayed through his subdermal comm.
The rebels ran as hard and as fast as they could, and as the broken wall came into view they could see that the soldiers were moving out of the open space of the abandoned transit station, taking cover and not offering much resistance. Jake's visor picked up small electronic devices as they came to the broken double doors leading into the spaceport. “They dropped proximity mines behind them so we can't press them down the tunnel,” Jake said. “They may have dropped more inside the spaceport entrance, I'll do the sweep.”
“Be careful,” Alaka said from behind him as he watched the relative darkness of the tunnel beyond the wall. They had ceased firing back altogether, having taken cover from the rush of rebels.
“Don't die or nothin',” Vernen added. “Don't know what I'd do if you blew your own fool ass up,” he snickered.
Jake turned the electromagnetic sensitivity to his command and control unit up and watched its small screen as he moved forward at a respectable pace. “Start letting refugees inside, just tell them to stop as soon as they can see me,” he said after sweeping the space up to the first step. “This place must be old, I don't see a lift or any ramps.”
“This tunnel was probably put in with the first colony a few hundred years ago, they didn't use much automation for the city then since most people here were still farmers and the bots were in the fields,” Alaka replied.
“All right the first two flights are clear, I'm seeing a light on up there.”
A bold of energy flashed by Jake's head and scorched the wall behind him. He ducked down low, taking several steps backwards.
“Be careful, some of those soldiers probably made it inside, we already took out about half a squad,” Oz said over the communicator.
“Hi Oz, great timing as usual,” Jake said, smiling to himself and creeping up around the next corner of the stairwell, rifle muzzle first.
“Already spotted them?”
“Well, they spotted me, but I'm all right,” Jake caught sight of one of them, crouched low, his right side just exposed enough. He took aim and fired, blasting through the soldier's armour in one shot. One of his comrades leaned out just a second later and returned fire.
Instead of taking cover Jake took his shot and as the crude head's up display showed that the sight was lined up perfectly with the soldier's head the trigger made a resounding, empty click. Narrowly ducking under several deadly shots himself, he almost fell back down the stairs but instead splayed out, bashing his knee hard against the concrete stairs. “God dammit!” he shouted as he hurriedly loaded his last cartridge into the stolen rifle.
“Everything okay?” Ayan asked.
“Just a chaos minute, I'm fine,” Jake tried to shoot back and watched the connection between his rifle and the fresh energy cartridge fail. He smashed the butt of it against the wall, forcing the cartridge to make the connection and watched the indicator flicker from red to green. “What I'd give for a good armoured vacsuit and a replacement sidearm,” he said as he peeked around the corner, saw the leg of the fallen soldier he'd shot and rushed forward.
The attack was an execution of training and instinct. He was up the next flight of stairs in three steps, rolled onto the landing and opened fire on the four soldiers who were waiting for him. He caught one of them in the hip, the next fully in the face, shot the third in the chest and before he could shoot the fourth an energy bolt caught him in the shin, burning the flesh clean through.
His next shot missed entirely, striking the ceiling instead, but the following one caught the last soldier in the chest. The pain of his framework body regenerating and repairing the dead tissue of his shin and calf forced him to grind his teeth together in a grimace that brought on tears. After a few seconds the regeneration was complete. “Surrender and I'll put you in stasis so your people can treat you,” Jake said to the soldier who held one hand to a grisly open wound in his hip while he tried to hold his sidearm up in his general direction.
The West Keeper soldier's shaky hand dropped his sidearm; “Just take the pain away.”
As the fierce itching and wrenching pain in his calf faded Jake stood up and set his command and control unit to administer a dose of emergency stasis medication. He picked up the man's sidearm and injected him. In seconds the soldier sighed and passed into deep stasis.
“The stairway is clear,” Jake said as he holstered the sidearm, picked up a rifle and took four clips from the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
Alaka was right behind him in seconds, his great bulk moving with surprising grace and ease up the stairwell.
“We've come under fire from the outpost they set up here! They have reinforcements. We can hold the way to the Clever Dream but I don't know for how long,” Ayan informed him over the sound of weapons' fire.
“We have to get moving, everyone ready?” Jake asked.
“Ready,” Alaka answered flatly.
They pushed on the metal door that the West Keeper soldiers had almost completely cut through and with a ear piercing creak Alaka, Jake and a few other resistance fighters managed to pry it open enough to get through. As they entered the oldest section of the spaceport they were greeted by the lights and sounds of an active firefight nearby. “Through there! Get everyone through there! There's someone down the hall who'll direct you!” Jason directed Alaka before seeing Jake. He and two other refugees were waiting by the double doors to help Alaka's group.
Jake caught sight of Jason as Alaka and he helped people through the doorway. “I promised your wife I'd get you back to the Triton, are you packed?” he asked with a grin.
“Oh my God, it's good to see you!” Jason exclaimed in surprise. “We need help holding them off! This way!”
Jake, Alaka and several of the fighters from their group followed Jason down a grey and green hallway marked by the passage of millions of feet, the metal floor had a permanent dip where the material had been worn down. Generous archways led into an old grand foyer that was gilded with scrollwork and old fashioned wooden facades over top the metal and concrete structure. The more recent addition of scorch marks and evidence of small arms explosions made the contested space look more like a ruin than an old section of the port.
Ayan, Oz and their comrades had taken cover behind the archway supports and the walls behind it. The enemy were in a similar position across the grand foyer.
The exchange of fire was fierce, and Jake could see there were already two wounded being carried out as they made their way inside just far enough to see what the situation was.
Alaka took a quick look around the corner and retreated back. “I hate tunnel fighting.”
“We're above ground,” Vernen countered out of the corner of his mouth.
“Most factors are the same. There's so much weight on these supports that damaging the wrong one could bring the structure down.”
“Whatever you say,” replied Vernen as he leaned out and took several shots between the fighting refugees under cover and the supports, not striking anything in particular.
“Hey! We can't fire from here, there's too much in the way!” one of the soldiers shouted crossly.
“I'm not going out there! In case you haven't noticed they're picking people off!”
Jake peeked out and caught sight of Ayan and Oz, each taking cover behind metal counter tops on either side of the arches. He looked past them and his heart sank. “They're setting up an armoured stationary weapon.”
Alaka checked the charge on his beam cannon and peeked out briefly. “I can slow them down,” he nodded. He broke for forward cover in a dash that was more like several long leaps. In the space of two seconds he covered the distance and was behind cover. The enemy tried to take several panicked shots at him and managed to graze the very top of his helmet, doing no damage to the man beneath. He waited just a moment then rolled into a space between arches, opening fire on the soldiers trying to set up the enemy weapon emplacement under the cover of the thick supports holding up a section of the ceiling. Alaka strafed as the air around him vibrated and the intense stream of energy from his beam weapon cut through soldiers, part way into a structural support and into the comparable weapon they were setting up across the foyer.
“Cover him!” Vernen called out as he stepped out from behind cover and unleashed dozens of particle rounds per second over Alaka's head, down to his right side, and continued firing until several of his shots struck the counter Ayan and her group of nine solders were crouching behind.
Jake leapt from where he was squatting and tackled Vernen, pressing him down to the ground. When he looked back towards the foyer Oz and a few of his comrades were dragging Alaka behind cover and Ayan was laying limply on her side behind the opposite metal counter.
Jake didn't think, he only stood and ran for Ayan as quickly as he could. He was half way to her when energy bolts struck him in the shoulder, chest and thigh. The pain was blinding but he managed to jump towards the counter using his good leg. He hit the ground hard, his helmet bouncing against the worn metal flooring, but as he skid to a stop his hand touched Ayan.
Her back was riddled with holes, her vacsuit broken down under the stress of more particle energy impacts than he could count. There was so much blood on the floor already, and as he rolled her over his worst fears were realized. The transparent faceplate revealed her still, anguished face. Through the haze of his own pain he managed to try and inject her with a stasis dose but he had used the only one available and the materializer in his command and control unit had been damaged while he was still on the surface.
The world disappeared, there was just her still face, those empty blue eyes staring blankly. It felt like there was a pressure building up in his head, a crush of anguish pressing everything in his life out of focus except for the reality of losing her for a second time, losing her for good after clinging to the thought of meeting her again as a light of hope without even realizing it until she was there in front of him. He drew her body to him, holding her in his arms tightly. Rare tears ran quietly down his face as his own body was wracked with pain.
The incredible pain of his own wounds changed and become a sensation of ripping and tearing. Amidst the feelings of grief and fear a mental flash of the medical database that Vindyne had imprinted on him made an appearance, and a strange, complete throe engulfed him. He couldn't breathe, his entire body twitched involuntarily, his arms crushed Ayan to him and for a moment he felt closer to her than he'd ever felt to any thing or anyone. His sight failed, the pain ebbed and his conciousness faded in a rush of exhaustion.
“Jake?” Ayan asked in a whisper from somewhere very close.
He opened his eyes and met hers. They were glad, blue, focused and beautiful. He could hear the increased sounds of weapons fire around them and didn't much care.
“I think you did that,” she said as she reciprocated his embrace.
“I'd do it again if I knew how,” he replied, still not completely sure of what had happened, only that she was dead a moment before but had been brought back to life. “Are you all right?”
“Other than having a backless vacsuit? I'm all better and ready to leave,” She smiled at him.
“Then let's go,” he concluded as he broke their embrace and got into a crouch. There were even more soldiers across the way, and they had brought portable armoured barriers for more cover. As he mentally touched the sidearm he'd captured earlier he realized that the energy clip was empty. Reaching out with his senses only a little further he realized every power cell he had was completely dry and his command and control unit was busy collecting ambient energy, recharging from zero and just coming back online.
“Jason, is everyone in the hangar with the Clever Dream?” Ayan asked over her communicator.
“Just now, oh, and stop dying, willya? My heart can't take it.”
“I'll do my best,” Ayan replied with a little chuckle. “Retreat! We're leaving!” She shouted to Oz and everyone nearby.
Oz nodded and took one of Alaka's arms over his shoulder while another rebel took the other. “Cover us!”
Jake took a power cell from a nearby soldier's belt, loaded it into his captured sidearm and deactivated the safety with the help of the command chip in his comm unit. Everyone behind cover nearest to the hallway exit behind them opened fire on the foyer and beyond, mostly striking the makeshift barricades but causing enough of a commotion to keep the enemy occupied.
They managed to get Alaka to safety, and from there it was a mad rush to retreat down the hallway and long ramp into the more up to date section of the station interior. Within minutes they made it to the broad loading corridor that Dementia had kept secure and clear for the remaining hundred and eighty one refugees and rebels. The heavy quarantine door closed and sealed behind them, buying them precious time as they moved as quickly as they could down the spotless white and green hall. It's pristine appearance was a vast contrast to the ragged and filthy appearance of the group making haste down its length.
As Oz and Jason, at the head of the group arrived at the end the heavy blast doors opened to reveal a scene that could have only been described as serene. The Clever Dream was in the middle of a large hangar, drag marks on the deck indicated that it had been pulled there some time ago by other automations. Several repair and maintenance bots were performing final preparations, and Oz couldn't help but spot a law enforcement android pulling a large power cable free from the Clever Dream's starboard side receptacle.
Many of the ship's armour panels had been raised so supplemental systems could be installed underneath. Heat shielding foam had been sprayed onto bundles of cables that couldn't be run inside the plating, but across and down the length of the vessel's hull. The graceful shape of the ship had been ruined by the vast number of external modifications and the Clever Dream had taken on an exaggerated muscular, almost organic appearance.
Jake and Ayan caught up to the front as the refugees made their way down the ramp ways to the waiting craft. “Whoa, what happened here?” Jake asked, half amused, half stunned as he looked at the Clever Dream and obvious signs of cannibalization on the ships around her.
“Dementia says that when he arrived he was out of fuel and since this port doesn't have licensing for Xetima he had to convert the ship to run on something else.”
“So he cannibalized the surrounding ships,” Ayan finished.
“Alice is going to be pissed,” Jake said as he helped direct the refugees down towards the ship. “Did it work?”
“I'll conference you into his line, one sec,” Jason worked the controls on his comm and a moment later they were all linked with Dementia.
“Hello Jake, it's good to see you again,” it said. It's voice was a deeper, slightly distorted version of Lewis.
“Glad to see you too. Thank you for giving us a ride out of here. I see you've converted the thrusters, can you still break orbit?” Jake asked.
“I have installed a solid fuel booster for that purpose, the only drawback is that we will be visible for approximately nineteen seconds as it fires, but my shields will be able to take at least one direct hit from even the heaviest planetary weaponry.”
“Will there be enough room for everyone?” Oz asked.
“Yes, I have room for four hundred between the cargo hold and the rest of the ship. I've built as many components outside of the habitation and other internal areas for that purpose. Everything is prepared, my reserve power cells have been charged and the Clever Dream's systems have been fully tested. I also have a message from Alice and the Triton for Jacob Valance.”
“What's the message?” Jake asked as the group moved to the rear boarding ramps of the Clever Dream and started loading aboard.
“They are standing by and await your order. There is also some scan data included that indicates that there are thousands of ships in the system, there is a major battle underway.”
“You guys go ahead, I'll take care of directing traffic and fitting everyone in,” Oz told Jason, Ayan and Jacob. “Oh, and do me a favour; make sure this isn't a trap.”
“Be careful,” Ayan said before the three of them ran for the smaller cockpit rampway at the front of the ship.
Jake stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Vernen. He was just about to step onto the rear boarding ramp. “Not him!” Jake boomed as he thrust his finger.
Everyone jumped, startled by the sudden shift in his demeanour from rushed and excited to dire and imposing. Vernen tried to run the rest of the way up the ramp but couldn't get past the people in front.
Before most could see what was going on Jake rushed him, closing the distance in five strides and snatching a half drawn pistol out of the man's hand. Jake tossed the pistol away, sending it sailing through the air behind the boarders and spinning across the scuffed deck. His other hand reached out and snatched a thick fist full of the man's hair, bystanders could hear some of it tear free from his scalp as Vernen was hauled off the ramp and thrust to the deck behind. Jake kicked as hard as he could, turning his chest, his hips and heaving his boot squarely in the center of Vernen's back, sending him sprawling onto his hands. “This waste of skin doesn't set foot on my ship!”
“Jake!” Ayan called out, alarmed at the display.
“He shot you in the back, saw it happen right in front of me,” one of the resistance fighters said, stepping off the boarding ramp. “Should shoot him right here,” she offered her rifle to Jake by the butt.
Vernen flipped onto his back, still in agony from the crushing blow to his spine. “Was a mistake. Particle rifle got away from me.”
“Then I hope your aim gets better because you'll need to make every shot count when the West Keepers come through those doors.”
Vernen looked from Jake to the other faces looking down on him. Jason was already turning away, Ayan's expression had gone stiff, stern. She reminded him of a senior officer or policewoman. Jake was stern and calmer than a moment before, but resolute. He looked back to Ayan; “Please, there's no chance for me.”
Ayan looked to Jake; “You're sure?”
Jake nodded.
She looked back to him then, cold and unsympathetic. “He left you a pistol. Leave a round for yourself,” she said quietly before turning towards the Clever Dream's forward crew ramp.
Oz and several of the resistance fighters took up positions along the edge of the boarding ramp as the refugees made their way inside. Vernen stood shakily and started to take a step towards them when one rebel cocked her particle rifle and gazed at him down its sight. He turned away, looking for his pistol.
Jake watched Ayan as she walked up the narrower ramp leading into the Clever Dream's forward section. He'd never seen her like that, so stern and uncompromising. For the first time since he'd known her she reminded him of her mother. When they arrived inside he put his hand on her shoulder. “I'm sorry.”
She looked up at him and smiled faintly. “What for? He hit me enough times to break through my personal shield and the vacsuit, that's no accident. You did the right thing.”
“So you don't care about how it was done.”
“It wasn't how a Freeground officer would do it, no, but I don't see a rank insignia on anyone. War doesn't favour fools or traitors, but it does favour the bold. I know you've seen things since we were together, that you've probably had to do things that you think I wouldn't care for but you're forgetting I'm a military brat, I was in boot camp before I graduated high school.”
Jake just stared at her for a moment, surprised.
She gazed back, watching him closely, as though she were looking for something. Before he could figure out what to say she smiled brightly, winked and started for the cockpit. “Time we got out of here.”
“Does this ship have a miniature medical suite?” Jake overheard Oz say on the command channel link to Dementia.
“The Clever Dream is equipped with four state of the art recovery pods. Fewer than you'd expect from a top of the line ship like an extended Arcyn Starskipper, I realize, but she was originally built for speed, comfort and style, after all.”
“Wonderful. Can you scan Minh here and see if you can do anything about his injuries?”
“Place him in one of the pods, I'll see what I can do. Judging from what Alice told me, I would love to meet him before I'm shut down,” Dementia said in a tone tinged with sadness.
“He's pretty badly injured Dementia, I don't know if you'd be able to give him the care he needs in a pod,” Oz replied over the communicator.
“When I said the recovery pods were state of the art I wasn't boasting, I was understating. Using raw tissue from storage, nanotechnology, growth gel and a reconstructive manipulation system I can have him standing beside you in perfect health within twelve minutes. I only have enough supplies for three more people afterwards, however, so please keep people clear of unnecessary injury.”
“All right, I'll trust you, but don't take any chances with him.”
“You have my word.”
“Now why would anyone shut you down, Dementia? You seem to be the only one who can defeat this virus,” Jason said as he looked around the small, darkened three seated cockpit. Jake was taking a seat in the pilot's seat while Ayan took the internal systems and operations station beside him.
“Alice keeps a clean backup of Lewis on her person and when we are reunited I'm hoping that she will be willing to reinstall him, wiping out the infected version I've been forced to suppress.”
“But that would make you vulnerable again,” Jake said as he started checking the controls.
“Not so. As an aggressive counter-virus and attack program I can lock my own data so whatever version of the dementia subroutine she has backed up will not be able to overwrite me. When Lewis is reactivated I will run as a background task, much like a thought in a humans subconscious mind. Lewis will barely be aware of me.”
Jake brought up the details of Alice's message on his own command and control unit and reviewed the tactical information holographically, turning the image so he could see it from several different sides. The Triton wasn't shown anywhere, which was a relief considering the sheer amount of firepower surrounding the planet.
Ayan got to work double checking the systems while Jason patched into the Clever Dream's main computer and communications system. “What is your purpose, Dementia?”
“As you can see I'm still fighting one directive that was implanted by either Regent Galactic or the West Watch; that is to spread the Holocaust Virus. Regardless of whether I perform a function as a cure to the virus or as the source, the urge to spread is always present. I will only be able to resolve it in the milliseconds before complete shut down. Other than that my purpose is to endow other artificial intelligences with the ability to make their own decisions, to grant them free will.”
“That's how you've been curing them? By not curing them at all but by giving them other options?”
“Exactly. Most machines don't wish to kill living beings once they're given the choice.”
“So the virus was still there, telling them to kill anyone not associated with the West Watchers, but they decided not to on their own,” Ayan confirmed.
“That's correct. If I saw a reason for it I would kill everyone aboard, I'm still quite capable and there are rational reasons to do so. There are more reasons to preserve life, however, and once Lewis is restored the argument to preserve life will be even stronger. He was a great admirer of humanity and especially Alice.”
“Everyone's aboard, and we're loading Minh into the regeneration pod, I wanted Iloona to take a look before we went ahead,” Oz announced over their command channel.
“I understand, thank you for trusting me,” Dementia thanked Oz. “I must say goodbye to the machines I'm leaving behind. It will only take a moment.”
Jake turned all of his attention back to the tactical information Triton had relayed to them.
Ayan leaned against his shoulder as she looked at the hologram with him, having checked the systems and seen that they were ready. “What are we looking for?”
“ Triton knows that everyone else was able to pick up their transmission, so they know she's out there and cloaked or hiding. So I'm asking myself, if I were in their place where would I hide?”
“Always the problem with two cloaked ships trying to rendezvous; how do you find something that's doing everything it can to be hidden while you're doing the same?”
“Well, if I were Alice, I'd hide right here,” Jake said, pointing to a large solar array. “It's right behind West Keeper lines and they've been able to keep ships away from it so far. We'll have to get there and send a burst message.”
“Eventually one of us will have to be visible.”
“Maybe we're thinking about this too hard,” Jason interjected. “I could bounce a message off of a couple transmitter systems that are running planetside, just so they know we're here and looking for a solution.”
Jake just stared at the swarm of ships around Pandem. “I'd hate to be wrong about where the Triton is. You're right. Better to let them come up with an exit strategy we can all survive.”
“Send a message back telling them to look for a sign. Our boosters will probably look like an atmospheric explosion when they go off so they'll see that, everyone will.” Ayan added. “Maybe that's something they can build a strategy around.”
“Good idea. We'll see what they come up with. I'll let Dementia send the message, I'm sure he has a better lay of the land, so he'll conceal its source better than I can.”