Book 3: Chapter 84: Inner Thoughts

Book 3: Chapter 84: Inner Thoughts

USD: 62 days after the battle of Dedia IV

Location: Jump space, IND Iron Horse, en route to 63 Hydrae

Alex watched the glow of the ShipCore illuminate Elis face and the inside of the privacy curtain. The extraction of the core had been easier and somewhat more difficult than she had believed. At first, she had worried that it wouldnt be possible at all as she carefully cut into the armored space.

It had been surrounded by a semi-liquid of nanites, and she very nearly panicked because of the size of the glob. It would have been impossible to carry the compartment with her into the ship. The nanites had lifted up the core and pushed it into her hands, then went inert.

She had thought Nameless had woke up somehow, but there was still no response to her entreaties.

Alex studied Elis face. Id share it with you, but I know you wouldnt want that.

Tears dripped down the side of Alexs face, and she wiped them away. I dont even know that it would work, if it even could.

Uhng

Alex almost fell out of her chair.

Elis eyes were open, although they werent focused on anything. She shifted slightly in the bed, her hand opening and closing.

Alex slipped her hand into Eliss and squeezed it gently before turning and shouting for help. Nurse!!

Alex scooped up her ShipCore and deposited it in her main hoodie kangaroo pocket. Then reclaimed Elis hand. Elis? Elis?

Medical personnel arrived, but Alex refused to give up her sisters hand or disappear.

USD: 63 days after the battle of Dedia IV

Location: Jump space, IND Iron Horse, en route to 63 Hydrae

The time for jump point emergence came much to quickly. Alex didnt want to leave Elis at all. She hadnt been able to speak or even focus on anything, but she had woke up and moved.

The doctor had warned her not to get her hopes up, but it was impossible to contain her hope that Elis would continue to show more improvements.

One of us will be with her at all times. Dont worry. Rick said as he poked her shoulder.

Alex looked up, shaking herself out of her thoughts. Shed lost track of the conversation or even that he was still there.

Or that she was about to be locked in a small cell inside the brig.

Even if she understood the reasons, she hated it.Read latest chapters at nov(e)lbin.com Only

The cell was completely cut off from all signals from the outside. Alex wasnt sure how it worked, but there werent even vibrations. It was absolutely silent, and the lack of the ships hum bothered her in ways she couldnt explain.

At first, shed relied on the glow of her ShipCore and her data pad to light the space, which was filled with water and horrible MREs. A small space in the corner allowed her to dispose of any waste. A trap prevented any horrible odors from reaching her, but even the waste tank was sealed from the outside.

A day passed as she spent the time reading. The silence got to her eventually, and she watched a few holo vids. Despite the distraction, somehow the quietness still got to her.

Finally, she just turned everything off and stared at her ShipCore.

In the darkness, she could spot little, tiny swirls inside the blue orb the longer she focused on it. She had the desperate wish that those swirls were Nameless trying to reach out and communicate with her. Reaching out to touch the surface, she could feel a strange resonance.

A small, darker blue cloud from inside the light reached out toward her hand almost as if it had been directed by her thoughts.

The moment her fingertip touched the smooth orb, Alexs vision flashed white.

Suddenly falling through nothingness, wind whipped at her hair and clothes. The sudden velocity sent her heart pounding in her chest. As she went from falling feet first to falling horizontally, the fast-moving air blowing into her face made it hard to breathe and she was forced to look away from her direction of travel.

The solid white surrounding her changed into a kaleidoscope of rainbow hues. Completely disoriented, she splashed into something soft and warm. Half expecting to break on impact, the warm sea of nothingness held her gently.

[Interrogative: This unit requests to know what Avatar is doing.]

Excitement and happiness filled her chest, and she tried to shout Nameless name, but she realized there was no oxygen in her lungs anymore. Hand flying to her throat, she tried and failed again to speak or draw breath.

Put them on the standard transit course.

Yawning, Thea cracked her neck and then got dressed. Battle stations were required to wear the stuffy CS military uniforms that the navy liked, but she absolutely hated the black and gold.

If she based her loyalties on uniform colors, she would have defected to the Imperium in a heartbeat.

Thea made her way to the control room, where she was greeted by her team of technicians and engineers. She had no idea who they were other than their ranks and the name tag offered on her HUD. Human personnel always came and went so fast she had stopped paying attention to them long ago.

BuPers always made sure that assignments with NAI on station were short. Why, she did not know, nor did she care. She didnt really need them.

But if she didnt give them something to do, they didnt get paid. And that was something she could feel sympathetic about, so she always made sure they were so exhausted they had plenty of credits by the time they left and didnt bother her during their stay.

The crewmen and officers on the bridge all saluted as she entered, and she returned the gesture with a half-assed attempt of her own before taking her seat at the main console.

Someone wake up one of the alert frigates; have them rendezvous with the convoy and do a detailed scan on their way in, Thea ordered.

She pulled up the relevant information on the tactical monitor. She scanned through the data, noting the size and composition of the convoy. It seemed to be a large group for something coming out of a frontier system.

She licked her lips in anticipation, adding up all the different fees that would be levied. First, theyd be charged for per head for normal transit. Then there was the refugee fee, for any who didnt wish to be refugeed in 63 Hydrae.

Thea was very aware of just how much the passengers had likely paid. If she didnt take at least half of that from the ship captains, it was likely shed be punished and be left nothing for herself.

That would be terrible, considering just how close she was to buying her way to a higher authority level and luxury accommodation in Piscium.

Maam?

Maam.

Thea yawned and stretched in her command seat, opening an eye to stare at the young officer who had woken her up. Her internal clock told her shed been asleep for two days.

Checking the feed from her MainComputer, nothing important had come up to bother her. The convoy had rendezvoused with them without notice and was currently waiting to be cleared for onward travel to the next system.

She lazily checked the fees the convoy had offered up.

|+328,552,838 SE|

Thea smiled. It was more than she had hoped, putting her goal a few months closer.

What is it?

Maam, the convoy has been cleared for preliminary departure, but I was going over the sensor logs. I found something.

Theas eyes lit up. Oh?

The IND Iron Horse appears to have a fully contained smuggling compartment. I doubt anyone would have noticed, but I was going over the previous scan and comparing it to the current one and noticed a disc

Yes, yes, good work.

She turned and started to call up her comms when the tech hesitantly continued.

Uhm Maam. I did the work on my own time and Uhm

Thea blew a tuft of hair out of her face. She knew that most captains or anyone really would have shoved him off or gave him a token reward.

She poked the station intercom, opening a channel to the entire station. Checking the mans nametag, she made an announcement.

Attention crew of 7H34-Hydrae, Senior Technician Clark, on his own time and using his own efforts, found an important anomaly that no one else had noticed. Therefore, I am awarding him 25% of the profits made from this discovery. That is all.

Shed charge him 50% of whatever he made as a fee for using the stations equipment and sensors. He had to suspect that would happen, but his eyes lit up in excitement anyway. Well, that was no surprise, hed be making millions, and that was multiples of his yearly salary.

Thea gestured for him to go, Shoo, shoo. I have an extra fee to negotiate.

Clark saluted, Yes Maam!