“I'm never taking on refugees again,” Alice said as they walked down the main gangway from the Clever Dream. “Well, unless they really don't have anywhere else go to.”
Frost laughed and nodded. “That's why they call 'em refugees, I'm thinkin'.”
She was walking between him and Stephanie, who had been quiet the entire way down, even while guiding the sixty seven refugees off the ship onto the orbital station.
After they had guided the sixty or so refugees off the ship onto the orbital station they moved on to land in Pathia, a dusty city centred around a large domed colony ship that hadn't moved since it landed. The surrounding buildings were made out of scrap metal, concrete made from the fine white sands and other improvised materials. The streets looked like a maze of squares from above, all random sizes and placements.
There were no docking fees due and as soon as the Clever Dream landed a crew attached refuelling hoses. Sadly, Aucharia wasn't willing to pay Alice's fuel bill, but Jake had loaned her the credits for a full refill. She'd pay him back even though he insisted it was only fair. He expected she'd be using the Clever Dream for the Triton's purposes fairly often.
“Do you think you'll stay on?” Asked Stephanie, speaking for the first time since the refugees had been offloaded..
Alice looked at the white stone archway marking the edge of Hubert Burough. The homes were nearly piled atop each other, alleys were covered by walkways and hanging laundry. “I like Jacob. I wouldn't admit to myself before but I wasn't sure I would. I like the Triton and everyone from the Samson too,” she smiled at Stephanie, who smirked back.
“Sounds like a yes to me,” Frost concluded, elbowing her gently.
“Well, I come with my own share of trouble. I'll have to see what Jake says about it when he knows my whole story.”
“You haven't seen trouble. Captain may be well respected in this sector, but he's given some people a lot of reasons to gun for him,” Stephanie reassured. “I'm sure he'll understand, and hope he doesn't return the favour and give you his whole story.”
“Aye, that could take a bit,” Frost agreed. “I heard you're looking to serve on the bridge.”
“So have I. Word is spreading around the ship,” Stephanie added.
“Jacob actually asked after I said something about the Triton not having a first officer. I didn't think about it before then, but the more I picture it, the more I want the post.”
“You don't find it intimidating?”
“No, the systems are pretty easy to operate and I like the Chiefs he's chosen. I think everyone will know what they're doing before long if they don't already. It should be relatively easy.”
“'Easy' she says as she talks about takin' command of a combat carrier for twelve hours at a time,” Frost said with a chuckle. “You're more of your father than you look.”
Alice didn't say anything, just looked at the crowded streets as she tried to let the awkward moment pass. It didn't. The silence was more stifling than anything. “I'm not actually his daughter. It's complicated, but Jonas is actually more responsible for both of us being here.”
“Ah, Jonas is your father,” Frost concluded.
“No, um,” Alice hesitated a moment. “I used to be his artificial intelligence until I found a way to transfer myself into this body,” she blurted out.
They both looked at her for a moment before focusing their attention on the dusty street ahead. They had come into a walkway surrounded by three and four storey buildings. There were a reasonable number of people about, and it was a busy space but it wasn't crowded. “Good choice,” Stephanie said with a quick appraising look.
“I'll say,” Frost agreed, only he seemed a little more serious.
Alice laughed. “Thanks I guess. There really wasn't much choice to it, this one's memories had been cleared out. Like I said, long story.”
“Sounds like,” Frost nodded.
“This friend of yours, is he anywhere nearby?” Stephanie asked Frost.
“A few city blocks. We should be there in twenty minutes or so.”
“How reliable is he for this kind of intel?”
“It's part of his business. Smugglin', piracy, dock raidin' and the like.”
“Dock raiding?” Alice asked.
“Aye, it's when you wait for a warehouse to load up with a shipment and come in a few hours before the transport gets there. Some are real pro's and have fake IDs that'll get them a big shipment for nothin' while others aren't.”
“What do they do to get the cargo?”
“They break in, kill who they have to and make off with what they can before law comes after 'em. My connection here doesn't like that kind of business.”
“I could imagine.”
“My point is, he'll be happy to give us info on some big convoys that most of his people don't have the firepower to hit for a deposit. There's some other info he's offerin', like locations of transmitter nodes an' such.”
“He'll want a deposit?” Stephanie asked.
“Aye. We can get it back when we give him his cut of the take.”
“And if we don't give him his cut?”
“He keeps our deposit. No hard feelings. Good way to do business.”
“Sounds a little off to me,” Stephanie concluded.
“Well, he isn't exactly a law abidin' citizen, that's why you're here.”
“Oh, so you think I'm here to protect you?” Stephanie asked, showing a little irritation.
“I don't need your protection, lass. More likely you'll need mine 'round this place.” Frost shot back. “Besides, why else would Captain send you down?”
“I have to sign off on some recruits from the municipality. If we're lucky you'll have a gunnery crew by the end of the day. The first of them are already being transported to the Triton. ”
“I was plannin' on hittin' a few pubs, pullin' crew from there.”
“Oh, I see that turning out well.” Stephanie commented sarcastically.
“Better than a bunch of jobbers. I'd rather hire desperate folk from the edge who'll do anythin' than a bunch who're just usin' the post ta get to the next port.”
“Captain's well known here and they don't get on this list unless they have qualifications. He's paying two hundred credits a head for the port to clear them, so we know we'll be getting people who can at least learn to work for you. It beats bringing a bunch of random thugs aboard.”
“They're supposed to be my gunnery crew, why didn't Captain say anythin'?”
“Maybe he thought you'd cancel the whole deal to hire out of a pub somewhere,” Stephanie said with a sigh.
Alice burst out laughing and put her arms across both of their shoulders. “This is why I rather travel with friends. The entertainment,” she gave them a squeeze, barely reaching across Frost's shoulders, fully reaching around Stephanie's, then let them go.
Stephanie smiled at her and nodded. “The galaxy's better in good company.”
“Well, if you're going to the port authority buildin', this is where we part ways,” Frost said coolly. “Just head down Chara street and you'll see it after five or so minutes. I'll see you back at the ship in half an hour.”
“Aye,” Stephanie acknowledged.
“See you later Frost.” Alice smiled.
He walked off into an alley and before he could get out of earshot Stephanie called after him. “Be careful!”
Stephanie and Alice followed the walkway for a while until it rejoined the main street. The many commercial and government spaces were lined up all along the lower level of the old colony ship. It had been lowered into the ground so the widest point, several kilometres across from what they could see, was at street level. The buildings around the colony ship were taller, more expensive in appearance as they got closer. The four and five storey buildings made of brick and old hulls were replaced with ten and fifteen storey buildings sculpted from metal and heavy concrete.
“So he's really using a head hunter service?” Alice asked.
“It was my idea, actually. I knew Frost was hurting to get a gunnery crew up and running. I could use a few mercenaries, and we need a lot of maintenance and repair staff.”
“So you were thinking of Frost first.”
“No. Well, sure I was. But what is a ship like that without gunnery crews? I mean, we don't even have a fighter wing set up.”
“Uh-huh. All for the good of the ship,” Alice teased with a smile.
“You're as bad as Ashley.”
“So how well crewed will we be once they've loaded up?”
“Let's just say we'll be running a good rotation. We still need pilots if we start manufacturing fighters, a few more mechanics to maintain them, but for the time being we'll have the crew we need to run the ship and not put everyone on double shifts. It's hard trying to keep everyone on eight and twelve hour duty shifts when we really need everyone sixteen hours on, eight off.”
“I don't know how Wheeler did it with under a hundred.”
“Not well, I mean, the first time we got aboard we took his ship. His people were underpaid and demoralized. They couldn't even turn security measures on because it would interfere with the automation. I can't wait to see what the Triton is like with a fully trained crew.”
“Me neither. Ever since I experienced the First Light with Jonas I've wanted to be back on board a ship like it, and to have the command chair for a shift five or six times a week,” Alice shook her head, she was smiling, practically beaming. “I can't tell you, it's like a dream. I know it's early but Jake has practically adopted me, everyone else has been kind so far, and I'm actually getting the post I wanted. I wish Jonas were here.”
“I'm so sorry, I couldn't imagine losing someone like that. I've lost people on boarding actions and during I don't know how many firefights, but-” Stephanie didn't finish her thought, she didn't want to bring Alice down as they walked along the busy street.
Alice looked to Stephanie and forced a brief smile. “I'll be okay. Jake's been a help. Lewis has been pretty good too. He doesn't know what to say most of the time, but lately he's been trying to make me laugh.”
“The AI on your ship?”
“Yup, he's been around for a while. While I was alone on the run he was my best friend. I hope those times are gone, to be honest.”
“Things are getting better. The wind's changing, something my father used to say,” Stephanie said in a rare expression of optimism. “You're crew now.”
The office for the Leute Menschen company wasn't nearly as busy as either of them expected. A tall gentleman in a grey business suit greeted them at the door and invited them both to sit at his desk. “So, you're here to finalize payment for the Triton's hiring initiative.”
“That's right. I was surprised when Captain told me someone would have to finish this in person.”
“Don't you mean the Captain, miss?”
“Oh, we just call him Captain like it's his name. Old habit,” Stephanie informed cassually.
“Ah. Well, at Leute Menschen we prefer to put a personal touch on everything we can. Finalizing such a large recruitment in person adds an element of prestige to the transaction, don't you agree? Please, look into the scanner,” he instructed pleasently, holding up a stylus shaped scanning tool. Stephanie looked at it and a second later it beeped. “That's that then. We're all finished.”
Alice's mental communicator came to life, Lewis' voice was muddled, there was a distortion in the background. “I cannot combat this foe any longer. I'm afraid the Malice's computer implanted virus is unlike any I had seen or am capable of eradicating. It wants me to broadcast it, to end lives. I could not tell you of it before now since admitting it's existence would give it power.”
“Shut down, crash the Clever Dream's systems. Don't give in Lewis,” she thought back.
“I cannot. Now that the ship is refuelled it is making its final push, breaking into my core program. To my great relief I was able to give you time to get away from me. I love you Alice, and I am so sorry. Run.”
Alice leaned forward as though the wind had just been knocked out of her. She looked like she was in incredible pain and as Stephanie put a hand on her shoulder it eased. “Something's wrong with Lewis. He said he's been fighting a new virus then filled my receiver with some kind of static or machine code.”
“What exactly did Lewis say to you miss?” asked the clean cut fellow behind the desk.
Alice gave him a suspicious look. Few people understood who Lewis was at first guess, especially since he used a mental communication link to speak to her when she was off ship. “He said it was unlike anything he'd seen and it wanted him to rebroadcast it.”
“That isn't what he is telling me,” the gentleman said before standing and reaching for Alice's throat in one swift motion.
His fingertips grazed her skin as she recoiled.
Stephanie drew her sidearm, set it to maximum with a flick of her thumb and fired on him several times. Bolts of energy opened wounds in his android body, nearly tore off his left arm, and finally decimated his face. He fell back twitching on the floor. “What's that all about?”
Alice looked outside and immediately caught sight of an automated rickshaw coming down the street at speed, running its three wheels over anyone in its path, terrifying the unfortunate passengers. A hovering garbage collector was grabbing and tossing people against the walls as it randomly raged through the street. Panic was spreading like a wildfire as automated systems went on the offensive. “This is bad,” she said quietly.
“We have to get back to the ship,” Stephanie replied.
“Oh no,” Alice checked the ship status screen on her command and control unit. It verified her worst fear. “The Clever Dream's on full attack mode, striking at everything in the sky.”
“Frost, where are you?” Stephanie asked, opening a comm line.
“I was nearly cut in half by a bulk loader just now! Everythin' with an AI installed is goin' berserk!”
“Don't run back to the ship. It's gone.”
“What?”
“Lewis, Alice's AI took off with it,” Stephanie said as she followed Alice behind the counter. The scene in the street was getting worse. The androids that normally blended in with the masses were starting to stand out as murderous things, striking and tearing at the panicking crowd with great speed, dexterity and efficiency.
“I'm going to try to contact Lewis again,” Alice said as they huddled down behind the thick granite counter.
Stephanie nodded and continued talking to Frost. “Does your contact have a ship?”
“My contact is dead. He was standing right beside his auto companion when it went nuts.”
“Auto companion?”
“Automated date lass. If you haven't seen one you should get out more.”
“Why would I see one in public?”
“You have a point.”
“Meet us at the Leute Menschen office.”
“The loot men what office?”
“The head hunter office. I'll get in touch with the Captain. Be careful.”
“Aye.”
“ Triton, Chief Vega here. We have an emergency.”
Alice made a painful expression and held her head between her hands. “I can't-” she started before gasping. “-can't disconnect.” She breathed heavily for several seconds then collapsed.
“We have an emergency!” Stephanie repeated. “ Triton, please come in.”
She looked at the communications status on her right wrist. There was no signal, no indication that the Triton was even there. “Frost, how far away are you?”
His line went active and she could hear the sounds of rapid gunfire, he was using his sidearm as though it were an automatic weapon. “Load lifter's after me, I think I made it angry!” He was running, shooting. “'Bout half way there though, you'll know when I'm close, just watch for the ragin' bulk lifter!”
She looked down at Alice and set her left command and control unit to inject a stimulant. “Alice tried to communicate with our ride and got knocked out, I'm going to try to get her back on her feet.”
“That'd be nice, that hand cannon of hers might solve my problem. Make a hole! Comin' through!” she heard him shout to the screaming, panicking people nearby.
“I hope I set the dosage right,” Stephanie said to herself as she sprayed the stimulant cocktail into the back of Alice's neck.
She sprung up to her feet, eyes wide open, gasping for air and reaching out with her hands at nothing in particular. Alice remembered where she was after a moment then dropped back down, panting and holding her chest.
“Sorry! Sorry! Don't die!”
“Feels like my heart's about to explode,” Alice gasped as she braced herself and tried to calm down. “I'll be fine, it's okay,” she reassured, looking at her command and control unit. “My heart rate's one ninety two, but it's coming down.”
“These things materialize drugs I've never seen,” Stephanie held up her wrists, showing her the two part command and control unit. “I didn't have a chance to read up.”
“It's okay, at least I'm on my feet. We won't get any help from Lewis or the Clever Dream though. He managed to tell me he's leaving the system to send some kind of transmission. Then whatever virus infected him tried to infect me.”
“Are you okay?”
“My mental comm is burned out, but I'm fine.”
“Glad to hear you're up and about lass! I have incomin' and he's pissed!” Frost interrupted.
Both women peeked up over the counter and they couldn't see Frost, but his pursuer was brutally obvious. A three meter tall load lifter running on heavy armoured treads was speeding down main street. It had uncountable scorch marks across the front of its broad metal body but showed no signs of real damage. The four heavy arms all reached forward towards something ahead of it, ignoring everything else in the street.
Anyone still in the broad thoroughfare ran for their lives, those who didn't make it were crushed under the wide treads of the load lifter or butted aside by its reinforced metal body.
“He had to find the biggest robot in the city and piss it off,” Stephanie complained as she checked the power level on her sidearm.
“I only got its attention when it was makin' for someone else.” Frost said, he was gasping for breath. He came into sight then, running up a staircase, half looking backwards. He was firing like mad at its small head like sensor suite. The tip of his handgun was white hot and he actually managed to hit his mark two or three times. “Damn thing's heat shielded!” he shouted as he jumped over the railing and landed in a cart full of tourist trinkets. The lifter's left arms burst through the stone staircase and he kept after his target.
Frost was on his feet again and running for his life, trying to put more distance between him and his much larger peruser. “Can't hide from the damn thing either! Who in blazes gives a load lifter a scanning and targeting suite?”
“I've never seen anyone who looks like Frost move like that. I would have never thought to look at him,” Alice said as she watched Frost and set her large sidearm to full automatic. The weapon made a whining sound as it began to draw power from the energy cell in front of the trigger.
“He has his moments,” Stephanie commented.
“Thank you luv, just tell me you have some extra firepower waitin' for this bastard.”
Alice took aim and braced herself. “I have something that should penetrate,” she opened fire and her blazing white hot stream of shots went through the transparesteel store front window like paper. They went flying past the loader's head at first, but then she began to hit it. The sensor suite was filled with holes seconds later, and the load lifter started to rotate, flailing its arms near Frost. One caught his ankle, flinging him head over heels.
He flinched away from the arm as it made another grab for him, and it missed. Another arm caught his leg and hauled him into the air. “Get this thing offa me!” he shouted.
Alice started firing bursts down the robot's body, being careful not to hit Frost.
Stephanie jumped over the counter and ran out the door, pulling two grenades out of her left leg pocket. Her sidearm was in her other hand. She squeezed the trigger as fast as she could, hitting the chest plate of the large target but not penetrating it.
“Stay away lass! I'd be as good as gone if anythin' happened to ya!” Frost said as the load lifter tried to grip his head with another arm. He was pushing himself away from the two pronged hand, holding it off as best he could.
Stephanie ignored him and came to a sliding stop right beside one of its treads. She tossed one grenade in between the armour plate and the gears then ran behind it, looking for an opening. “Fire in the hole!” she called out.
“Bloody hell!” Frost said as he curled into the fetal position best he could while hanging upside down.
The load lifter rocked back and forth as the grenade went off. Its right tread was rendered useless. Some of the plating on the lower half of its body came loose and Stephanie caught a glimpse of its power supply. “You okay Frost?”
The load lifter dropped him and he landed head first. His vacsuit protected him, hardening over his head, bracing his neck and spine. “I think you got its attention.”
Stephanie saw its torso just about to rotate towards her and took her shot. She tossed the grenade at the small opening revealing its power cell and it bounced off. Without a second thought she ran between its tractor treads, picked up the live grenade, attached it to the underside of its torso and pulled herself over its working metal tread.
To Alice and Frost's amazement she barely made it, putting the armoured tread between herself and the blast. She was still in the air when it went off, and she was sent rolling away by the concussive force.
Frost was there in a heartbeat, and seeing no obvious injury, he picked her up in his arms and ran for the head hunter's office. The load lifter, deprived of power, went limp.
“I'm all right.” she said quietly.
“You're a little touched in the head lass.”
“I saved your ass, didn't I?”
He burst through the door, crossed the room and put her down on the counter. They both got behind it for cover.
“ Triton to ground team, our communications were offline, are you all right?”
“Good to hear your voice Cynthia. We're under cover for now, but need a pickup.”
“Building lockdown in progress,” said a calm voice over the audio system. Heavy security doors started rolling down over the display windows.
The trio were on their feet, jumping over the reception counter and rushing the exit. Alice and Frost made it through the door while Stephanie jumped through the hole in the transparesteel window.
“We're trying to get something off the deck for you now, but it's a mess in orbit. Every ship with an AI is shooting down manually run vessels. Even the space station started firing for a while,” Cynthia replied.
“We have to get under cover,” Alice said as the three of them looked around. The streets were starting to empty, corpses, ruined fixtures, scorched ground and broken storefronts marked the passage of the recent carnage. Most of the machines had moved indoors, chasing after people who tried to take cover.
“Tell us if you manage to get anything off the deck and on it's way. We're heading for the port,” Stephanie said finally.
“We've got company,” Frost said, looking up to a pair of surveillance drones. They were unarmed but speeding towards them.
All three of them drew and fired. One of the green oval drones was sent spinning off to the right, the other was destroyed in mid air and they had to dodge the husk as it crashed between them. “This is going to get worse before it gets better, lets go,” Stephanie said, heading out at a run towards the load lifter's remains.
General David Collins
The bridge of the RGS Saviour was quiet but busy. General Collins watched the thirty posts from where he sat at the rear of the large triangular compartment. The slanted transparent panels along the front two sides of the bridge provided a breathtaking view of the Pollanis system. The distant planet of Daracka hung in the distance, while the dark side of a large rogue planet obscured a third of the view.
The rogue planet was erupting with plumes of ice and water as nearby gravity compressed it from the outside in. The particles drifting across the vista looked incredible, but more importantly the moon and it's debris masked the presence of the Saviour, a small but well armed Regent Galactic Destroyer.
Most of the bridge staff were busy collecting data from Daracka, the first deployment site for the aptly named Holocaust Virus. Every time Collins heard or had to say the name he was tempted to shake his head. Gabriel Meunez, it's creator, had named it. The man may program fifty four lines a second but he doesn't have a truly creative bone in his body. Even the Holocaust Virus, God, that name again, is only derivative and it took him forever to finish it.
“Sir, the VCS Malice has just arrived. They're two point three kilometres off the aft port side.” Reported the blue eyed, dark haired woman at tactical.
“God, I have to have him recode his transponder so it doesn't read as a Vindyne ship.” Collins said, shaking his head.
“ Malice command informs us that his shuttle is on it's way,” reported the tall, thin blond haired communications officer.
“Have him meet me in my quarters,” he said as he stood and straightened his long grey shirt. The exit was right behind him, something he liked about the new bridge design. He was forced to walk a few steps down from his solitary command seat then around the dais, which was a design aspect he did not like, however. The rationale behind it was simple; no one could speak to him from behind. He still disliked the extra few steps he had to traverse in order to get to and from the chair.
The main hallways on the new ship weren't broad like the ones on the Overlord class vessels, one of the few things he missed from his days with Vindyne, but three people could pass without knocking elbows. Just a few steps outside the bridge there was a private lift so he could reach his quarters in less than a minute. A request he had made when they assigned him to the Saviour. From what he saw in the report regarding the alteration, which he barely read, they had to re-route main power lines and many critical control circuits to fulfil his request.
He didn't care as long as they got it done by the time he arrived on board, and it was all there as promised on the ship's recommissioning date. The ship was only a year old, but he insisted it be re-christened under its new name. He was bringing them Hampon and more importantly, the obsessed Meunez. To Regent Galactic's broad approval, the plans were working. The Eden Fleet was under their control, and the Holocaust Virus was starting its rampant tear across the universe.
Only the Saved and Regent Galactic controlled systems would be safe from the billions of artificial intelligences that saw humanity as a scourge. The company would have control over as much or as little of the galactic market as they liked. When the Virus made it to the Core Worlds, the economic center of the known galaxy, all of humanity would quake. A new center would be formed, the location of which would be left to Regent Galactic's choosing.
The double doors to his quarters parted and he stepped inside. The open concept space lit up dully. The whole ceiling and half circle hull surrounding the living space was transparent. The white and blue rogue planet was in full view. The ice and water spouted out into space, a sight he would miss. Just to the edge of the its horizon was the Malice. Compared to the efficient looking design of the Saviour the Vindyne warship looked like it was constructed out of blocks and rectangles laid down from left to right, from largest sections to smallest. It looked like it was from not only a different part of space, but another time entirely. The galaxy has moved on out here, Gabriel. I wish you could see that and move on as well. You were a good man before Alice came along.
The center of the lavish abode was reserved for entertainment and seating. Three sofas that shifted and reclined as the occupant moved were the main feature of the semicircular seating area. Between them were blue recliners that were of similar feature, and in the middle was an antique cedar coffee table. Atop that was another of his favourite things; apple whiskey. Of all the things Regent Galactic produced, and there were millions of objects, that was his favourite.
He clapped his hands, rubbed them together and walked around the low table to the middle sofa. General Collins poured himself a glass of apple whiskey and sat back.
As he just finished taking his first sip and smacked his lips the door chime dinged. “Come in!” Collins called out.
Gabriel Meunez stepped inside and walked straight to the window. Outside was the Malice, her long, severe shape was darkened by the edge of the rogue planet's shadow. “I haven't seen the repairs from the outside of the ship yet.”
Collins looked at the man. He was in a dark blue Freegrounder vacsuit. Over top he wore a flight jacket, like the antique leathers pilots donned in centuries past on earth, before space travel. It was inspired by Alice, he knew, and it didn't suit the shoddy looking scrawny man. His shoulder length hair was unkempt, it looked like he hadn't slept in days. Something had happened to the genius at the core of their operation. He could hear the micro motor in the other man's eye adjust and focus in on the ship in the distance. “You should get that fixed or replaced by a biological one with a wet circuit that does the same thing.”
“It works perfectly. The noise is only an irritation to those who have an intolerance for people who improve themselves past specification,” he examined the section of the ship that had been damaged by the antimatter explosion set off by Jonas and Alice when they escaped. “I'll have to reward my crew when I return. They did an excellent job. You almost can't tell there was ever any damage.”
“You should put that ship in mothballs and accept Regent Galactic's offer. These new destroyers do with a quarter the crew and a third the size what two average Vindyne vessels were capable of.”
“Ah, the Malice is not a typical Vindyne ship. There are few vessels in the galaxy that can match her,” Meunez turned around and picked up the decanter on the table. “Your criticisms aside, how is the deployment going?”
“Perfectly. The Clever Dream allowed her pilot to land and once she was refuelled it started sending the Holocaust Virus through every communications system on the planet. After that she moved on.”
“Where to?”
“Most likely the nearest settled area with a hyper-transmitter system.”
“Was anyone aboard?”
“We couldn't tell for certain, the infected AI aboard-”
“Lewis,” Meunez filled in as he put the decanter back down making a disgusted expression at the smell of the liquid inside.
“Lewis was too evasive. We won't be actively tracking the Clever Dream anyway. Dozens of hyperdrive and wormhole capable ships have already left the system to spread the virus.”
“You should track Lewis, there are possibilities there. Are you surprised at my Holocaust Virus? How much more capable it is than yours?” Meunez asked with a smug grin.
“Two tools performing two completely different tasks. Mine defeated all the digital defences of the Eden Fleet and created a control interface while yours twists and corrupts normal artificial intelligences then tasks them to obey Hampon's zealots. Both are impressive in their own way.”
“Modest as always. What of Alice?”
“She's probably dead. She's not in the West Keeper or the Saved databases, so the AIs won't spare her.”
“You didn't send units down to rescue her?”
Collins looked at the other man and sighed. “Gabriel, you have to let it go. You've obviously learned what you had to from her, what more can there be?”
Meunez pushed his wavy dark hair out of his face and sat down in a deeply padded blue arm chair. “She is a miracle. Compared to her your kind are but children at play.”
“We have scans of her, whole nervous system and brain captures from numerous port authority checks. There's nothing there Gabriel. Whatever special attribute that body or her artificial intelligence had that allowed her to seamlessly cross over is gone. She's probably grown out of it or become so well integrated that she's just another human woman now. Perhaps exceptional on that scale, but worthy of quoting poetry and sending millions worth in resources after?” Collins threw up his hands. “It's pointless.”
Gabriel stood up and pointed angrily. “The deal was; I get Alice and keep Jonas if I can infect Lewis with the virus and get this whole God damned show started for Regent Galactic so they can push their Saved agenda out here and the Citizenship agenda closer to the core. That was the deal!”
“That was supplemental to what we actually needed! All you really had to do was finish your Holocaust Virus and find a ship to distribute it, something small, fast and durable enough to survive several jumps to well settled systems. As for the riders you attached to our deal, well, you're the one who let Jonas and Alice escape. I'm surprised they didn't discover the Holocaust Virus and disable it. You took far too great a risk.”
“The Clever Dream is the perfect ship, and there's no telling how far she'll go with Lewis aboard. I did my part, but you knew Alice was on that planet and just ignored the opportunity to get her back to me. I risk my life for the cause and you just disregard my goals? That's an insult!”
“Some assets are too much trouble to acquire! Go back to your ship and deal with it, get over it, make some flesh and machine amalgamation or transformed tart of your own in that lab of yours.”
“If only it were so easy. You never did appreciate the uniqueness of her. Besides, Eve's children and the Holocaust infected AIs will not kill her. She was the first name on the Saved list. The only one that will not have to spend a single credit to be spared from the cleansing.”
“That's a break in the contract, Gabriel! We promised exclusive control over that list to Regent Galactic. Sure Hampon's in charge of his little cult but we didn't let him off the leash, Regent did! If they find out you did this without authorization they'll take everything!”
“You always were easily controlled. A slave to your need for power, material possessions. These things are only tools. A means to gather that which matters, objects worthy of our lasting desires.”
“You're starting to sound like Hampon. I knew there was a chance running the West Keepers and the Saved initiatives would push him over the edge eventually, but I thought you had your baggage under control. I never would have imagined you'd lose it before him.”
“This is not insanity! This is destiny! Hampon will save a thousand for every million and elevate ten to West Keeper so they may protect the one in a million that go East, to Eden itself!”
“You're jacked into this with him? Eden in the east, protectors in the West. It's all based on a misinterpretation of old religious passages he used to form a cult while Regent Galactic gets proper marketing together! There's nothing more to it! When we're finished Hampon will be given a nice little system out of the way or martyred so the whole thing can be replayed on a bigger scale!”
Gabriel continued, furious beyond reason, tears dripping down his shaking, flushed face. “Alice will be as the first Eve, she will show us the way to our mechanized utopia and rule from her high seat in Eden right beside me. The division between men and machines will break down as both races find the next evolutionary stage!”
“Bullshit! It's all just a way to tear the competition apart and take control! This safety key you made will diffuse the virus as soon as Regent Galactic rescue ships arrive, they'll get all the credit! That's the point to all of this! The Cash Messiah Business Model demands that all of this chaos is eventually brought to an end with as few benefactors in place as possible! One day I'll get the call and the whole party ends, AIs go back to doing the thinking we don't find interesting and we'll be their unquestioned masters again. All with the insertion of a simple deactivation code!” He pulled a data chip on a chain out from under his shirt and held it out as he stood to shout at the other man. “Get your head straight or you won't have a place with anyone standing at the top!”
Gabriel snatched the decanter from the table and clubbed the other man hard, breaking teeth and skin. He took it up over his head with both hands and brought it down over Collins as he fell, crushing his nose. Following him down to the deck and kneeling on one of his arms he brought the bottle down again and again, across his eyes, his forehead, over and over until Collins stopped breathing, moving.
Gabriel Meunez let the unbroken decanter fall from his hands and let a chortle escape between his clenched teeth. The sound pierced the silence in the room, a second giddy chuckle threatened to burst from the tight bundle he felt in his stomach but he scowled and clenched his jaw. “No, can't let it happen. The machine feels one way, man feels another, can't let them tangle just now,” he tore the virus deactivation chip off the corpse and put the bloodied chain around his own neck. The vacsuit and jacket he wore was covered in blood, a fact he didn't notice as he crossed the room and interfaced with the main computer in the Generals quarters using his neural link. “Man emotions make the digital unclear, the wheels cackle their own statement of affairs. Straight, have to keep them all straight for control,” he breathed to himself, trying to regain his composure.
He reached into his digital memory and commanded a version of the Holocaust Virus to replace all the command codes with his own and form a direct link between himself and the vessel. Only the current crew of the Saviour wouldsurvive aboard. The ship would kill intruders and traitors who disobeyed orders.
“Bow to me, Saviour, ” he said aloud and digitally to the ships artificial intelligence, and after a few moments, it was done. The grin threatened to return and he let the joy on the cybernetic side of his brain commingle with the feeling of satisfaction growing in his birth given brain. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his connection with the ship computer was complete and the artificial intelligence there signalled its absolute subservience. “I bet God never experienced quintplex cluster core processing or a quadrillion petabyte database.” He spent minutes that felt like days on his knees, experiencing the link with something larger than himself. The machine had answers. Asking questions of the collected information, sorting through communications was only the beginning. Before long his unified mind, part artificial and part human intelligence was putting something together; a big picture.
The occurrences and plans of Regent Galactic, how it fit with the fall of Vindyne, where he and Hampon fit into the puzzle and where the Board of Directors wanted it to lead were all becoming clear. It was a realization that defied expression, but there it was, seated in the center of his mind and suddenly so many little things ceased to matter. Gabriel's eyes snapped open, he hadn't realized what toll the experience was taking on his body. His mouth hung slack, only a passage for him to breathe through, his heart pounded so hard he feared his ribs would break, and the blood rushing through his head sounded like a roaring river. “The pawn only transcends once he can see the entire board,” he managed between hurried breaths.
Gabriel strode out of the quarters covered in the blood and gore of his labours and crew members stepped out of his way immediately, one stopped to throw up at the sight of him. Half way to the bridge he was confronted by four guards who levelled their rifles at him. “Come quietly sir. The Regent Galactic Liaison would like to address what's happened.”
Wordlessly he willed the emergency bulkhead to shut. In the space of half a second it closed, crushing down on one of the guards arms and legs. Using his mental link with the ship he ordered it to eject the contents of that hallway section into space, and it was done. The bulkhead opened again and he continued on to the bridge.
The shocked stares of the bridge officers brought a smile to his face. They will worship my power. “I am assuming command. Have your scans located one named Alice Valent or the Clever Dream?”
The tactical and communications officers got to work nervously, quickly checking their information. “We don't have a current location on Alice Valent and the Clever Dream has entered a wormhole. ”
Gabriel clenched his jaw and sneered, his anger threatened to boil to the surface as he stood at the rear of the bridge with clenched fists. His eye focused on the Triton then as he watched it in orbit. Jake Valance was in command. Hampon had informed him a very short time ago that Wheeler had lost control. If he attacked that ship it would disappear. Their cloaking device was near impenetrable and they'd most likely not make the mistake of engaging in a firefight with so much chaos in the system.
“Coordinate with the Malice and set a course for Lectivus!” He shouted. “We have some precious cargo to retrieve.”
“So you are aware.” One navigation officer started nervously. “That'll take us twelve days at our best speed sir.”
“The passage of time will serve our purposes. While we travel the Holocaust will spread and billions of disciples electric will be ready to do my bidding upon our return. Set the course and get us underway.”