Book 2: Chapter 19: To Ackman Station

Book 2: Chapter 19: To Ackman Station

USD: ~Three days after arrival to 92 Pegasi

Location: G8 V Yellow Main Sequence, 92 Pegasi, Deep Space, Enroute to Ackman Station

She leveled the pulse pistol at Alexs chest, the look of shocked betrayal followed by sad acceptance sending Eliss heart to racing, I didnt want this.

Alex reached up and cupped her cheek, I know.

The pulse pistol hummed, and then blue light exploded out of the barrel.

Elis shot up out of bed, a cold sweat clinging to her skin as she threw away the sheets that threatened to trip her escape from the bed. The nightmare had haunted her twice in the same number of days, replaying the same course of events.

She liked Alex. As she had scouted the ship and observed her captor, she had not found any of the horrors she might have expected. At first, she thought that was because they were alone or Alex and the NAI was trying to acquire some information from her. But Alexs treatment of her slowly eroded that view. Movie nights were not a luxury often afforded to prisoners, and Alex reminded her of something of a little sister. If she had had any siblings, that was.

Slowly she had begun to believe that things wouldnt be so bad, drifting around a nearly empty star, just the two of them until they ran out of some needed supply and perished slowly, like the fate of her friends and navy. Her worst fear was that the Nanite AI would find a way to escape and return to the Federation they had so desperately fought to save.

She had wanted to ask Alex if she would be willing to consider searching for other survivors locked away in cryopods among the wreckage. With her fleet IFF she thought she had a good chance to take a separate craft without springing any hostile drone traps that were inevitably still lurking around the wreckage. If she and her squad mates had survived, then there was a chance others had escaped to cryopods as well.

She had grabbed Alexs weapon out of impulse when the ship had beat to quarters, the ship shaking and accidental bump giving her a sudden opportunity. A nagging fear propelled her to action. She just couldnt shake the trepidation that they would end up in combat facing members of the fleet who had survived and set up a base around the lonely, lost star. Her duty to the Federation Navy, her friends and family there, felt like a mountain on her shoulders.

Alex was not like any Nanite Avatar she had ever encountered before; her face was full of expression and life and emotion. Elis knew for a fact that she was a person, there was no question of that, no matter Alexs origins. It had made her throat go dry, the possibility of having to kill her, after being granted only kindness and consideration. Elis had held onto the hope that the fleet only held automated drones.

She had felt relief when she recognized the formations the drones were using. The maneuvers and tactics used were a textbook rendition of what the drones had been programmed to do. She watched the interplay between Alex and Nameless as they fought with the asteroid base, and she saw a new side to the girl she had not seen before. A resolute determination, a calm calculating tactical mind that even under pressure had managed to guide the less creative AI into performing even better than could have been believed for such a disparity of forces.

A single heavy corvette, and an admittedly very well armed asteroid fortress against a fleet of almost two hundred ships. The battle should have been one sided, but it had been anything but.

The tactic of holding fire to maximize the effectiveness of the EW drones and first strike had worked beyond what anyone had the right to expect, and for a moment Elis thought that they might have been able to take down enough of the lighter fleet elements to make an escape.

Then the stellarator torpedo had hit, and everything went black. She had thought it was over then, but that was when her nightmare had arrived.

The slipstream wormhole had appeared, and the Nanite AI named Nameless was about to be unleashed on the Federation once again.

Elis had played the next part over and over in her mind, until it felt like a recording.

She had given Alex a monologue, something she had never done before, because doing so got you killed. Had she unconsciously wished that Nameless had put her out of the picture?

Alexs words and expression haunted her, I understand. I understand. I understand.

Laying back down and sliding back into the covers, Elis hugged her pillow, closed her eyes, and tried to go back to sleep.

The images of Alexs sad eyes warring with memories of her squad mates, Alan, and her friends in the Navy.

She had only known Alex for a few weeks, how could that be placed on a scale with the others? With the people she had lived, cried, and loved with? Elis agonized over it, it felt like a betrayal of some kind.

Hugging the pillow tighter she tried to blank her thoughts until sleep reclaimed her.

USD: ~Three days after arrival to 92 Pegasi

Location: G8 V Yellow Main Sequence, 92 Pegasi, Deep Space, Enroute to Ackman Station

Elis couldnt help but feel an invisible barrier had formed between her and Alex. Movie nights had not been canceled per se, but they had been overshadowed by multiple sessions of data sifting and attempts to piece together the situation from anemic long distance relay feeds.

Even when they did sit down to pursue a holovid, Alexs previous excitement had been muted. That might have been due to the choice of several tragic stories in a row, or maybe the choice of movie had been an unconscious hint at her own feelings.

Elis knew she should have been focusing on how to sabotage the ship, destroy it from the inside out and prevent it from reaching Ackman. So many people had died, had sacrificed everything. She didnt want to. The idea Alex had of just leaving her on the station, didnt please her either. Alex, for all her genius, was like a child in some areas and someone needed to look out for her. That the Nanite AI needed close monitoring didnt need to be said, it was self-evident. Elis still felt that the AI might be manipulating Alex for some unknown purpose and her freedom was just an illusion.

The problem was, Elis felt powerless. The Nanite AI had been very thorough in its security precautions, and she was being monitored constantly. She wasnt even sure if she had managed to sneak the pistol away from Alex in the hallway, despite how busy the AI must have been dealing with the combat analysis. The idea that it had known and hadnt done anything, just added to that powerless feeling.

Crossing into the Mess room that had become the de facto common room between them, Elis waved to Alex who was sitting and reading a datapad.Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

Hey, Elis. There is some data here that you need to see. Nameless, can you go over it?

The ear comm in her ear spat a tiny bit of static before coming to life, the dead lifeless voice of the computer never failing to give her a feeling of dread.

[Correlative: Further study of astrogation data and cross-referencing of system data and public notices indicates that the Federation no longer exists as a political entity in any part of the known systems.]

Elis looked to the map that had been plastered on the screen multiple times. The Solarian Federation, The Sol Imperium, The Corporate Systems, The Holy Ertan Republic, plus the smaller areas of The Free Planets Alliance, The Duchy of Drakar, and the Duchy of Meltisar were all painted in saturated colors of their state flags that they had discovered plastered on their factions most recent global news heading. The data had been quite out of date considering the long distances packet ships were required to fly to deliver the mail, although the Solarian and Corporate news had been more recent.

All was not well in human space. Elis had thought that the Solarian Federation might have been the spiritual successor to The Federation but reading their news broadcast had turned her stomach with flagrantly undisguised socialist propaganda that had harkened back to the days of Sols 22nd century. The Sol Imperium had reverted to an Imperial Monarchy, which surprised Elis less. It had not been long since the Federation and humanity had shaken off the yoke of the second coming of the Aristocracy of Earths 28th century.

Nameless had confirmed that outside of Ackmans orbit and the triangle made by the two transit points for the space lanes, there was very little activity. That darkness was the area the Shrike found itself floating through, with the nearest active transponder halfway across the stars orbit. There simply wasnt any reason to be anywhere else, Alex thought.

The asteroid belt full of resources was nestled tightly around the planet in dense rings. If the locals had sensors anywhere near as capable as the Shrikes, theyd pick up any drive flares within minutes unless the operators were asleep or blind. Moving through space on RCS alone would keep them from being seen but would also be incredibly slow. She doubted they would be able to hide mining activities for long, either.

That knowledge had decided her choice on whether they should stay in the belt and try to gather resources and develop and repair the ship on their own or go into the port and try to make contacts, gather information, and maybe purchase what they needed to do a relatively fast repair and rebuild of the ships spine. Something Elis had assured her would be expensive.

That had alarmed Alex, considering they had no money. At least until Elis explained that at a station like Ackman there would almost certainly be a large trade of weapons. Which was the one thing she had plenty of, although their missile oversupply had been savaged during their battle with the Federation drones. They only had thirty of the 1066.8mm and two torpedoes left, and that was after Alex had made Nameless reconvert the anti-matter they had siphoned from the extra missiles earlier into new warheads for the empty missile chassis that had originally come with the Shrike. That had been a terrible headache.

Sleeping on the job?

Alex cracked an eye open and then sat up as Elis announced herself, two cups of something steaming in her hands.

Is that for me?

Yep.

Alex took the cup and sniffed it, What is it? The drink had a strong, smooth aroma.

Coffee.

But Nameless said there wasnt any coffee when I asked.

It isnt real coffee; it is made from packets from the vegetarian MREs.

Oh so they are good for something?

Elis smiled and let out a small laugh, Maybe. You might not like it.

Are you kidding? I have watched enough Holovids to know that coffee is the most superior drink known to humankind.

Alex took a sip, and an overwhelming bitter taste invaded her mouth, bad enough that she almost spit it out.

Is is this poison? Nameless, did Elis just poison me?

[Informative: Beverage contains no dangerous elements.]

This is a conspiracy! Alex blurted before looking down at her cup with a grimace, I wont drink this. I have confirmed that there is nothing redeemable about vegetarian MREs.

[Informative: This unit has gained access to the local relays ship identification and registration system.]

[Notice: A ship IDENT must be created if we wish to broadcast a transponder ID. Default name is: Shrike H3-42812.]

[Interrogative: Would you like to change the registration name entry?]

Alex and Elis looked at each other.

A name instantly came to Alex, Whats the character limit?

[Informative: No character limit is designated, however names that are too long could cause issues with formatting.]

Alex took a breath, Tears of Fire.

Elis nodded slightly.

[Affirmative: Please review ship IDENT.]

|Name: Tears of Fire|

|Registration: Independent|

|Owner: Alex|GCode: 8Y-384YN83023NB|

Whats a GCode?

Elis spoke up, Its a specific genetic code that is unique for every person when read by a Federation standard scanner... or whatever standard scanner they use now.

Alex nodded, Well, not much else to do now.

Elis spoke up, How would you like to go for a spar? Without the murdering each other bit.

Alexs eyes lit up, That sounds good!