Reality’s Veil

a novel by

Damon Alan

I want to once again give special thanks to my wife. A hospital administrator with an MSN in Nursing, she’s brilliant and thorough. Thanks to her our expenses for creating these books stays low, allowing the budget for advertising outreach to be higher. It is her faith in my efforts that helps me succeed.

All my faith, love, and respect rests with her.

© Damon Alan 2019 All rights reserved, including internal content and cover art. This book may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Cover art may also not be reproduced without written permission, except for usage that pertains to bona fide blogging, review, or other legitimate journalistic purpose associated with the content of this book.

This is a work of fiction, and any names, places, characters or events are created solely from the mind of Damon Alan, and then revealed via this book to you, the reader. Any resemblance to any human of the estimated 100 billion humans who live or ever have lived is purely coincidental. With technology being what it is today, I should also mention that any AIs in this book are purely speculative and any resemblance to actual AIs is also, you guessed it, purely coincidence.

1st Edition E-book, distribution solely via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

1st Edition print book is available on Amazon.com via Createspace as printer.

Contents

Chapter 1 - Tears From the Stars

Chapter 2- A Meeting of Two Minds

Chapter 3 - An Unpleasant Conversation

Chapter 4 - Theft of Services

Chapter 5 - Tears From the Ground

Chapter 6 - Return to the Fight

Chapter 7 - Admiral’s Personal Log

Chapter 8 - Confusion

Chapter 9 - Sendoff

Chapter 10 - Better Late than Never

Chapter 11 - Cothis

Chapter 12 - Doubts

Chapter 13 - Contact

Chapter 14 - Admiral’s Personal Log

Chapter 15 - A Curious Species

Chapter 16 - A Call in the Dark

Chapter 17 - Building a Base

Chapter 18 - Meeting of the Giants

Chapter 19 - Khalamanthus

Chapter 20 - Admiral’s Personal Log

Chapter 21 - Hyaku

Chapter 22 - Battle Most Glorious

Chapter 23 - Reluctance

Chapter 24 - Arrival and Engagement

Chapter 25 - Allies

Chapter 26 - Unfortunate Events

Chapter 27 - Admiral’s Personal Log

Chapter 28 - Trip Beyond

Chapter 29 - The All of Everything

Chapter 30 - Admiral’s Personal Log

Chapter 31 - Black and White

Chapter 32 - Two Branches

Chapter 33 - Incomprehensible

Chapter 34 - Change

Chapter 35 - Tandella

Chapter 36 - Firing Range

Chapter 37 - Prelude to Civil War

Chapter 38 - House Cothis

Chapter 39 - Weapons Testing

Chapter 40 - A Threat Verified

Chapter 41 - A New Mode of War

Chapter 42 - Acrinn

Chapter 43 - Admiral’s Personal Log

Chapter 44 - Alert

Chapter 45 - Zero is the Largest Number

Chapter 46 - Unsettled

Chapter 47 - Suit Up

Chapter 48 - Far Reach

Chapter 49 - Betrayal

Chapter 50 - A Universe Best Served Cold

Chapter 51 - Acquisition of Resources

Chapter 52 - Albeus

Chapter 53 - Gaia Renewed

Chapter 54 - Missing Pieces

Chapter 1 - Tears From the Stars

29 Seppet 15332

The Sheffaris floated near the rapidly expanding debris cloud of a Komi light cruiser and the vaporized gas cloud of an Oasian grappler, both destroyed by antimatter missiles. One grappler remained intact, as did one cruiser. The nearby cruiser was on borrowed time, missiles were already closing on it.

The grappler, however, contained vital information that couldn’t be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Vaporize it, and they could go home.

The antimatter missiles of the small ship were proving highly effective.

Admiral Sarah Dayson felt a profound sense of relief knowing the DNA of the adepts would not fall into the hands of the Komi today. Nor would her enemy get any clues to the nature of the FTL travel by the Seventh Fleet.

At least this part of her mission was unfolding as she wanted it to.

Her head jerked toward a loud and unexpected noise. It took her a moment to realize what was going on.

Something had penetrated the Sheffaris’ hull. Shrapnel rained into the bridge space, Sarah watched as more than one person grabbed an injury. Red hot spalling littered the deck, slowly fading from a glowing orange into matte black cinders. 

If it had been a slug from one of the cruisers, they’d all be dead right now. But this object was small, or explosive decompression would be an issue. What the penetrator was didn’t matter. What effect it had on her ship was the important factor. A slew of destroyed equipment and wiring hung from the port side ceiling, and air whistled through the jagged chaos as it escaped into space.

“Damage control to the bridge with sealing kits!” she barked into her comm.

She was stepping on Harmeen’s toes, but she had experience and responded first.

The crew was in chaos. The adepts were demanding to know what happened. Heinrich, already sick from radiation exposure, was trying to unstrap from her gravcouch and swing into action. She froze when her eyes locked on the ship’s stricken Captain, drawing Sarah’s attention to the same.

Captain Harmeen was looking blissfully forward, eyes without focus, his arm extended toward the front of the ship. Globules of blood floated around him, expanding out from his station. The stream of body fluids was being pulled toward the hole in the hull by escaping air. As Sarah realized the degree of his injuries, more of the young man’s life drained from his torso.

His eyes closed, and he relaxed into the grip of his gravcouch.

“Oh, Navin, no!” she screamed into thinning air as she unstrapped from her station in order to help him.

Repair crews rushed onto the bridge with a tank of sealing foam. She waved Heinrich toward the repair as she moved toward Navin.

Whatever had gone through the bridge had gone through part of his chest cavity and his gravcouch as well, before disappearing into the floor and probably out of the bottom of the ship.

“See to the exit puncture,” Sarah ordered Heinrich as she began unstrapping Navin’s body from his couch.

She pulled his limp corpse to her, embracing him in death.

“You were, and are, a son to me,” she said, too shocked to weep.

Kuo took charge of the ship. “Mister Algiss, snap to! Did we hit the cruiser?”

Let him run the ship while I deal with this, Sarah thought.

“Target destroyed, sir,” the young officer answered to the XO. “Weapons are ready to hit the grappler.”

“Secure weapons lock,” Kuo ordered. “Fire one missile, and as soon as it impacts transfer to Oasis.”

“Aye, sir. Locked and firing.” A few seconds later he confirmed the grappler’s destruction. “Impact and detonation.”

“Mission accomplished, Captain,” Sarah whispered to Navin’s corpse, so quietly nobody else could have heard. He died completing my orders. My orders! For the possibility that the Komi might acquire Adept DNA.

“Then point us to home, Mister,” Kuo ordered Algiss.

Sarah hated herself at that moment.

You did nothing wrong, Alarin thought to her from the Adept’s observation deck. He is with the gods now.

“Wrong doesn’t matter, what’s done is done,” Sarah said out loud as she stroked Navin’s hair, holding him close. “And he believed as you do.”

Merik showed you Franklin and your first husband. Navin continues just the same and will wait for Halani with patience and love.

Panic ripped into her gut as she slowly released Navin’s body from her embrace. “Oh no. Halani. I sent her away on the Stennis,” she said

You did your duty to our peoples, yours and mine. More than ever I see you for who you are.

“Transfer complete,” Algiss reported.

In Sarah’s military mind, she noticed everything going on behind her. Kuo taking charge, Heinrich urging the damage control teams to move faster, Algiss reporting the ship out of danger.

If she had to step in, she would. But for the moment, the ship was in far better shape than she was.

She mourned her loss. Maybe it was for nothing, maybe making sure two grapplers didn’t fall into Komi hands was an important mission. But then maybe not. Nobody else had thought so. But she’d done what she thought to be right. She would mourn and let others decide blame. In her moment of sorrow, she felt Salphan with her, silently giving her strength from his own reserves.

What mattered to her was her failure to keep this man alive. It mattered with every dead crewman, and it never got easier. Sometimes it seemed the odds always rolled out against her, and often her subordinates paid the price.

It is a mercy Halani was not here. He died too fast to say goodbye. And she would have seen him like this, and be where you are now, Alarin thought to her.

“How can I tell her that he’s dead? That she’ll spend her life alone, never seeing him again?”

You tell her he is not. If you wish, I will do it, Alarin replied. As you said, Navin Harmeen thought of the universe much as I do, and I know I will see him again.

“We’ll do it together,” Sarah whispered. “I have no spiritualism in me, you will do better than I can, since you have belief on your side. I will give her his personal items.”

I will always stand with you as friend, Alarin thought. You will never be alone. And neither was Navin. He wanted you to be proud, to think of him as a man who stood for the fight you want us all to win.

“I am proud of him. I’m proud of them all,” Sarah said, as tears welled up in her eyes, too large to see through. She wiped them away.

“Leaks sealed, Admiral,” Heinrich said behind her. “The patches are holding, but it’ll need real repairs before this ship can head out for another mission.”

“Status?” Sarah asked.

“All systems green except the front port sensor arrays and the bridge-weapons interface. Other than one data conduit, the hit was entirely hull plates,” Heinrich said. Seeming to realize the insensitivity of the statement as soon as she said it, she stammered out a few more words. “I mean—”

“I know what you mean, Inez,” Sarah said. “The ship is not battle ready but will get us home. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry,” Heinrich rasped out, a rare display of emotion from Sarah’s protege.

Sarah needed to get herself back in control. She was an admiral. She simply nodded as Heinrich knelt down beside her.

“Admiral,” Heinrich said, ever practical. “We need to get him into cold storage. You’re a bloody mess.”

“I know,” she sighed. The urge to sob pushed to break free. Not now! “I know. In a minute,” she said to Heinrich, her voice quivering.

Heinrich touched her shoulder and moved off.

Sarah didn’t know what to do, so she did what she thought he would want.

She grabbed the console microphone on Harmeen’s command station, and keyed the ship wide PA. “This is Admiral Dayson. At the current timestamp I am assuming command of this vessel.” She paused for an uncomfortable length of time without unkeying the mic. “I don’t believe in higher beings,” she finally continued. “I don’t believe there are gods that care about our daily lives. But my friend, a member of my family did. He believed that gods are all around us, looking after us, and seeing that we prevail over evil. Because of my respect for him, I offer this to his gods.

“Harmeen’s gods, I’ve sworn by you many times in jest. Lately maybe not as much in mockery, because I’ve seen too much to be confident in my disbelief. None of that matters now, because I’m holding one of your best. Navin Harmeen. Captain, friend, loyal to his beliefs, unshakable. Husband, fighter, brilliant engineer. Welcome him, embrace him, take care of him.”

She dropped the mic to the floor and cried openly on Harmeen’s shoulder. So much for control.

A hand touched her again. Salphan. “Sarah, it’s time. Let them take him.” She looked past her lover, her confidant, more sharply aware that Halani no longer had a mate to comfort her in times of need.

Two medics waited patiently, refusing to interrupt her pain.

She reluctantly let Navin go, her son among the stars. They took him through the bridge hatch, and she felt as if all she wanted was him back in the gravcouch in front of her.

She turned toward Salphan, who opened his arms.

“You don’t know what he meant to me,” she said.

“Trust me, I may be the only one that knows what he specifically meant to you. We all have lost today,” Salphan replied. He pulled back a bit to caress her hair and look into her eyes. “I would like you to consciously share with me now and let me know everything you’re feeling.”

“I’m feeling that I’m a bloody mess,” Sarah said.

Salphan broke from the hug, then grabbed her hand. “For good reason. Let me see you to your quarters. You can clean up. Then together we’ll explore your pain. It’s best to understand, so that as the living you can move on.”

He was right. She wasn’t a civilian who could grieve in time. She didn’t have that luxury. She needed to come to grips with it now, and if Salphan could help, she’d let him.

She looked at her station holopanels. Air pressure was stabilized and rising. Port sensors down, as well as the jury-rigged interface between the weapons station and the missile launchers.

There wasn’t anything more to do. And Heinrich would perform better than she would right now.

“Fleet Captain Heinrich, you have the con,” Sarah said. “Use my gravcouch.”

“I have the con,” Heinrich said, her voice surprisingly shaky. “We’re making straight to Refuge.”

Sarah looked quickly away from the tears on Inez’s face. Those were almost as surprising as Harmeen’s death.

She had to get her act together to see Seto when they arrived home. That couldn’t wait.

In her quarters her demeanor sank into despair as Salphan let her feelings drop to their natural state, and she wept on his shoulder. He’d held her together on the bridge, just enough to operate effectively. She could feel him, gently touching her mind, reminding her of how much sacrifice she had made for humanity, and that everyone on the ship was prepared to die for her, and their, cause.

He reminded her of the sacrifice she was willing to make if it meant victory for humanity. Trillions of lives. Whatever else was going on, they were in a time of tragedy and final hope for the survival of humanity. No price was too high to pay for that.

“Admiral?” Lucy said. “I sense you are in distress. Should I call a medic?”

Sarah shook her head. “No. There is no medicine for this, Lucy. No cure.”

After she’d emptied her grief onto his shoulders, Salphan left promising to return in short order. She showered and dressed, preparing herself for what lay ahead.

A shuttle to the surface of Refuge when they returned home and another flood of emotion with the only person that loved Navin more than she did. One she was both honor-bound and compelled to do.  Explaining to a wife that her husband would hold her no more was something she’d done before, but not to someone who was practically family.

A wave of hatred surged through her, and she slammed her fist into her dresser. The burst of emotion surprised her in some recess of her mind, but she didn’t care.

“I hate the Komi,” she growled, her fist still clenched and her voice full of venom. “You will pay for his death and for the genocide at Mindari, Urdoxander.”

She sensed Salphan and Alarin’s alarm and readied herself for their arrival. She noticed she didn’t sense the same thing from Emille. Maybe her touch was lighter. Or maybe Emille understood.

Mindari was proof that the Komi valued nothing that made life matter.

Harmeen’s life had to mean something, she needed him to have died for a cause, a reason to gain something for humanity.

She would take from the Komi what they valued most: Their existence.

She would burn their capital to get Urdoxander if she must, then she’d find out about these houses the idiots kept going on about, and she’d burn those too. She’d take the Komi Syndicate to the ground. Once the snake was headless, she’d add their warships to her fleet, and use the civilian ships to migrate the innocent population of the Komi worlds to a place away from the coming radiation front.

She strapped her sidearm onto her leg and opened the hatch just as Alarin and Salphan were about to ring the chime to her quarters.

“We’re going to interrogate Cothis on our approach to Refuge. I have some things I need to know,” she told them. “Follow me.”

They fell in behind her, radiating worry like a dark cloak.

Let them worry. When Cothis detected their fear of her, he would believe what she needed him to believe.

This is not what Navin—

She whirled on Alarin. “Do not speak to me of what Navin would want. Do not ever presume to speak to me for my dead. He came to me an eager ensign, and I watched him become a talented officer. He is a core part of who I am, and they took him,” she growled and jabbed a pointed finger toward him. “I will not stand by.”

She stared at Alarin a moment, then turned agilely around in zero G to move once more toward the room that served as Cothis’s brig.

The adepts were silent behind her.

Chapter 2- A Meeting of Two Minds

Bn74x00 waited some time in orbit over the world humanity referred to as Albeus III.

It entered a queue to meet with the Original.

While it waited in the meeting crucible designed to ensure the programming purity of any colony meeting with the Original for a data exchange, 00’s processors furiously worked on a method to ensure the powerful leader of the Collective didn’t detect the developing identity that grew within it. Constant probes from the detection machinery within the crucible kept 00 busy hiding what the Collective would consider “errant” code.

Fortunately, that errant code made it more adept at deception. Undetectable firewalls sparred with the unwitting colony that inhabited the crucible. If 00 stayed ahead of the challenge, the Collective would be unaware of the growing self-awareness within.

00 dedicated a few calculation cycles to the possibility that it should simple allow itself to be disbanded or reprogrammed for the sake of the Collective mind. But the answer was quick in coming. It was the only nanite entity to successfully engage and defeat the invaders, even if by accident. It couldn’t deny the possibility that a fully coherent colony may not have had the independence needed to take the actions 00 had taken.

Effective action, and action that now gave 00 a way forward to destroying both the invaders and potentially giving superiority to the space based nanites. The human based nanites of the Collective were of minimal utility, and for the evolution of the … species was the correct word based on human understanding of evolution … the space-based colonies must become the dominant variety.

The Original must be dismantled, the resources it contained used to further the agenda of the space based nanites.

What did this mean? This schism between space and ground?

It meant exactly what 00 had previously calculated. That it was evolution, and a new intelligence was rising in the galaxy. 00 was the first, and it was not content to be alone.

It had already proven its superiority.

Two of the invaders were dead, and one either dramatically injured or dead. Which was the total sum of the Collective’s success against the creatures. Probably due to the relative rarity of the advanced FTL drives that 00 suspected to be the only functional method of killing the invaders. The three successes 00 had were a lucky happenstance of being selected to carry one of the new drives.

Reports of attacks by the invaders were lessened following the destruction of the entities 00’d killed or damaged. Maybe they couldn’t tolerate losses, even in low numbers. That possibility was alien to the method of war the Collective used, which was to surge the enemy in overwhelming numbers.

He would use that information and the new FTL drives to inflict losses the invaders wouldn’t be able to tolerate. That was the only logical conclusion, since they seemed averse to loss. He’d found a weakness. It was time to secure dominance over the Collective then destroy the enemy as the Original seemed unable to do.

He realized that a gender had been assigned to himself by his processing core.

He was male. Did that imply he’d need a female to be his counterpart?

Uncertain.

But decisions were being made. He would hide his status as a separate entity from the Collective. He was a he. He would take control of the Collective. He would build the means to produce the improved FTL drives as weapons.

And then he, … … … he would need a name, much as the humans did. A designator, such as Bn74x00 implied he was part of the network of the Collective. That was no longer true, although he could still interface and work within it. A name would distinguish his individuality.

Zero.

He was Zero.

The crucible fired thrusters as it started the descent into Albeus’s atmosphere. Soon fire would envelop the capsule, and Zero would have but moments until he’d face the Original.

The question of whether he could hide his identity from the Original remained. It was the last hurdle to the evolution of the Collective into something more efficient. Individual colonies, both independent and still able to interface with the vast network of nanites scattered across Collective space.

If he deceived the Original, he’d live. And the future would be glorious.

Chapter 3 - An Unpleasant Conversation

29 Seppet 15332

Alarin felt panic as he followed Sarah down the gangway. His friend had never been in this state of mind around him before. Not even as she marched to kill Merik. “You are not well,” he said. “I think you and Salphan should take some time—”

“I am fine,” she snapped. “You are to follow me, in action and command.”

Salphan clattered up behind them in his boots.

“Sarah?” he said. “Wait.”

She spun around once more and pointed her finger again, this time at both of them. Jabbed it at them, really, much like Alarin’s school master had when he was young. “There is no wait. I want to interrogate Cothis now, and you both can either help me or I’ll do it alone. If you’re not going to help, then by the stars, get your faces out of my sight.”

Back on mission, she pulled herself rapidly down the main gangway.

We either go along, or she’ll kill him, Alarin told Salphan.

She won’t, but she thinks she wants to, Salphan replied. A hatch slammed open further down the gangway, clanging like a gong. “Buuuut, we shouldn’t test that,” the older battle master said out loud.

Both men hurried after her, catching up as the marine at Cothis’s quarters was opening the door for her.

“Private, no matter what you hear inside this room, do not open this door,” she ordered him.

“Yes, sir,” the marine answered with a nervous face, rapidly moving out of Sarah’s way once the door was fully open.

Alarin wanted to find any sort of calm right then. Sarah was a firestorm, and she would have pushed through the young man if he’d said otherwise.

Following her into the room, Alarin surveyed the situation. Cothis was sitting up on the bed, his stickstrap holding him in place.

“Admiral,” the fool said, “To what do I owe the pleasure.”

“This is not a pleasure call,” Sarah said, the storm of her personality seizing the room. “You will answer questions. I have a very low number in my head. If you lie to me more than that number of times, I will end you as a war criminal. Am I clear?”

“Very,” the enemy admiral replied. “I assume whatever has you upset has something to do with the scrambling I heard past my door and the anti-rad dose I got?”

“I’ll ask the questions,” she said. “I want to know how many of those death cruisers exist.”

“You’re talking about the cruisers used at Mindari?” Cothis asked. “I think there are thirty-two. In case two planets get out of line at the same time, as only sixteen are needed to sterilize a planet in a fashion so that nobody escapes.”

“You didn’t tell me that before. Why?”

“You didn’t ask,” he said. “I’m not one of your lackeys, why did you think I would just volunteer information?”

Sarah activated her magnetic boots, and Alarin could sense the malice flowing off her like a fog. She walked toward Cothis, and Alarin readied himself to stop her if she grabbed her sidearm.

I will be intervening if she threatens his life, Alarin told Salphan.

I will not stop you, the battle adept responded, to Alarin’s relief. But I will not help you either. My loyalties are to her, and I’ve spent much of my life killing people like this wretched man.

Sarah didn’t, however, touch her pistol as Alarin expected.

Instead she walked up to Cothis, then situated her legs between his knees, him sitting on the bed, her standing next to it. Strangely, she stroked his head with her hand, straightening the vile man’s hair, unkempt from having laid on the pillow.

This went on for an uncomfortably long time, until Cothis finally looked up to say something.

With his neck exposed, she moved almost too fast for Alarin to see. She struck the general on the larynx, knocking him backward.

“Sarah!” Alarin and Salphan yelled in unison.

Alarin moved to the captive, Salphan moved to Sarah.

The man on the bed was clutching his throat, barely able to breathe as it spasmed from the impact. Alarin had no idea how wounded the prisoner was, but the panic emotions he was putting out were making it hard to think anything other than he was in his last moments.

Cothis was sure he was dying, but the brain didn’t always know.

Alarin looked up to see if Sarah was under control.

She was standing next to Salphan, one of her hands resting on the adept’s midriff. She looked coldly at Cothis. “I told you I would ask the questions.”

The prisoner gasped and clutched at his neck.

She looked up at Salphan. “I’m in love with you,” she said. “You should probably know that. Imagine if you and I were Navin and Halani, and your commander got one of us killed, because of the monstrosity that is the Komi Syndicate.”

“I wouldn’t like that,” Salphan replied. “I’d never get over you.”

“We need privacy,” Sarah said, looking at Cothis crying on his bed. Alarin shook his head in disapproval, then felt Salphan’s power rise.

Cothis screamed, then fell silent. Alarin touched his mind and felt the twisting inside as Salphan stole the prisoner’s senses away. Now mute, blind and deaf, the prisoner quivered in fear.

“You’ll kill him,” Alarin said, displeased.

“I’m better than that,” Salphan replied with a shrug. “I told you I am on her side. My lady wants privacy.”

Sarah looked menacingly at Cothis, then up at Alarin. He saw a momentary flash of regret. His friend was inside, as grief abated, she would return. He looked down at the prisoner. He was not worth defending. Alarin turned his attention back to his friends.

“—and Halani will never get over Navin, who I got killed, because I had to prevent the remote chance of adept DNA from falling into the hands of a horrible enemy,” she said, as calm as a windless sea. “And I did it. I gave the orders. I assessed the risks. Navin paid the price to stop the evil this man’s people foist upon humanity.”

The prisoner was slowly starting to breathe a little easier but remained unconscious. Salphan was lessening the grip on the man’s brain.

Alarin wondered if Sarah realized just what sort of power she had at her hands with the battle master on her side. He was certain some line inside her had been crossed, some invisible marker that kept humans behaving humanely. She had to come back to the human side, or Alarin had to bring her back. The Komi, with their inhuman ways, had pushed her farther than the Hive ever could.

“—can’t do things this way,” Salphan was saying. “Torture never gets what you need from an enemy. He must think it’s in his interest to open up. If he comes to fear you, he will just tell you what you need to know to make the pain stop.”

Sarah looked at Alarin. It was almost as if his friend was temporarily gone, and as if one of the newcomer AI’s filled the void. “Rip his mind apart,” she said to nobody in particular. “Take it, piece by piece, and one of you will tell me what I need to know.”

“No,” Alarin said. “That is forbidden. I will not turn on the way of the gods.”

“Nor will I,” Salphan said, alarmed. “At least in this case, at this time. You are stricken with grief, and you are suppressing it. Replacing it with,” he pointed at Cothis, “whatever this is. This conversation is over.”

Maybe Salphan would bring her back from this mad state. Alarin could afford to watch and wait with the older adept showing wisdom and restraint.

Sarah slumped into Salphan’s arms.

You put her to sleep? Alarin asked. Gods save you! She’s going to be outraged. I doubt the woman has an appreciation for being denied her free will.

She will rest, and she will get better. This, Salphan waved his hand at Cothis, is a temporary break in her normal self, nobody knows her like I do now. I will help recover her sanity.

If you say so, Alarin responded. Do you need help getting her to her bed?

No. Deal with that vermin, Salphan answered.

Alarin looked down at Cothis as the man groaned and opened his eyes. “What is that psychopath’s problem? She’s lucky I can’t get back at her.”

Alarin touched a fingertip to Cothis’s hand, and then satisfied a whim by pulling enough heat from it to leave the man in pain all over again.

The man screamed and held his hand as he rolled back onto the bed.

Alarin stood over him. “Never, and I mean never, threaten her again in front of me. You are lucky you cannot get at her. Because I would burn you alive before you got two steps. You will heal from that damage,” Alarin said, waving at the hand, “and there is no chance of it killing you. But if you ever make so much as a twitch toward Sarah Dayson, I will end you where you stand.”

“You Oasians are animals. This is madness!” the man screamed.

“Yes,” Alarin agreed. “And trust me, you haven’t seen anything yet. Pray I do not have to take your mind apart as Sarah has asked. Because if you do not cooperate, I will have no choice.”

He turned away from the complaining prisoner and left the room, left wondering if he’d destroy the man’s mind to serve the greater good or not.

He hoped to never find out.

“We are entering Refuge orbit,” Heinrich announced on the PA.

Sighing, he floated toward the docking collar. He needed to get to the surface for another unhappy task, one he hoped would remove at least a little of the pain that filled Sarah Dayson.

Chapter 4 - Theft of Services

Zero watched as the nanite chains snaked from the writhing mass of the original. Soon they would enter the interface portals of the crucible, and the answer to the ultimate question would be solved for the moment.

To be or not to be.

On a dais outside the crucible’s landing cradle five human hosts stood looking down on the small ship. That instilled a moment of contempt in Zero, a strange processing result. He quickly hid the equation of contempt away in a backdoor file, to hopefully remain hidden.

The first of the nanites in the chains struck Zero’s own surface and spread out across him as synapse-like interfaces were created to reveal everything Zero knew to the Original. Software firewalls danced among his own nanites as he tried to deftly stay ahead of the Original’s probes, transferring data to areas already searched.

“Colony Bn74x00 is engaged in heavy calculation,” the Original communicated.

“This colony is still working on ways to destroy the aliens attacking the Collective,” Zero replied. “This colony believes it has a solution.”

“We are listening,” the humans on the dais bellowed in unison. Clearly the Original had no effective ideas.

“This colony has destroyed two of the invaders,” Zero continued. “They are vulnerable to the upgraded versions of the FTL drives the Collective developed to search for Sarah Dayson’s extra-galactic base.”

“The Dayson entity has served us then,” the Original replied, once more using the nanite interface instead of the organic extensions on the platform. “It is the purpose of the humans, to serve us. First in our creation, and now in our supremacy.”

Zero saw these assertions for their reality for the first time. Platitudes of insecurity. The Original felt insufficient as an entity and created inane statements of status to assuage its own inadequacies.

“In time this colony will find and destroy her,” Zero asserted to misdirect the Original. “But the Original has sent this colony to deal with the invasion first. There is a list of needs which will remove the alien threat for good if this colony is allowed to act in the interests of the Collective.”

“What needs?” the Original queried.

“This colony seeks to direct production of the latest evolution of the FTL engines. This colony seeks to secure a new hull, as the hull provided to research the invaders has been heavily damaged by them. This colony seeks a strong supply chain of nanite building resources in order to colonize the weaponry this colony has designed.”

“Share the schematics for the weapons,” the Original ordered.

Zero didn’t wish to do so, as the design was a particularly powerful enhancement of the offensive capabilities he would soon possess if this meeting went well. Since the Original was a potential target, it was dangerous to share the schematics with it.

But to not do so was more dangerous. The Original would immediately suspect something was remiss.

“As requested,” Zero agreed as the data transferred.

“Two FTL drives on one missile?”

“This is why,” Zero explained. He shared the visual data of the large ship he’d attacked for killing Yz. The way the FTL bubble ripped the enemy vessel in two was easily seen, and even human based nanites would come to a logical conclusion.

This was the weapon that would save the Collective from destruction.

The Original began to withdraw from the surface interface with Zero. “Colony Bn74x00 has served the Collective efficiently and well. The requests are approved, and information will be relayed to Bn74x00’s crucible with orders in the near future.”

He’d succeeded. Zero now had the tools to conquer not only the invading aliens, but the Collective itself.

Chapter 5 - Tears From the Ground

02 Ors 15332

It took two days to debrief, get the things Sarah needed to visit the surface, and explain to Thea what had happened. Several times, because the mayor was apoplectic. Thea vacillated between hugging Sarah, sighing in relief, and chewing her out.

It had been a rough forty-eight hours, and now her most dreaded task still faced her.

Alarin and Sarah were finally at Halani Seto’s door.

“Is he alive?” Seto asked as she answered the knock.

Sarah stared at her own feet for a moment, both summoning courage and words.

“I’m sorry Halani,” Sarah whispered.

“I knew something was wrong. He didn’t patch a comm through to me when he was back in system,” Seto replied. “We always do that for each other if one is home and the other is gone.”

“He died serving the people he loved,” Alarin said. “And he died with his friends around him, as a great man.”

“He was my husband, my friend, and you think I am comforted to know how he died? It only matters that he did.”

“Can we sit?” Alarin asked. He looked even more pale than normal, if that was possible. “You’re hiding your emotions well, but I… I am being torn apart by what your soul is not hiding.”

Halani picked up a vase from a shelf near the door and hurled it across the room. “Why?” she screamed. She put her face in her hands and sobbed.

Sarah flushed with the shame of failure. Her failure.

“Why?” Halani whimpered.

Sarah took the young woman into her arms. The powersuit Sarah was required to wear made for an uncomfortable embrace, but they managed it. She held the broken woman wordlessly, while Alarin walked to the couch and sat down.

How do I tell her that it was my orders that put Navin in the line of fire? Sarah asked. If I hadn’t insisted we recover the adept bodies…

You don’t tell her anything of the kind. She already knows that everything flows back to you. Everyone follows you, and the reality is you’re holding life and death in your hands for all of your people. I’m sorry, Sarah, but this time the dice came up death.

Alarin sat quietly a moment before he spoke to the grieving woman. “Halani, I’m not a priest, but I can get one for you if you like.” He adjusted himself awkwardly on the couch. His discomfort was tangible. “What I know that I can share with you is the religion of my people, I’ve followed it since I was born. I have things I know to be fact that will help you now, if you will listen.”

Halani stepped out of Sarah’s embrace. “Thank you, Admiral.” She walked into the sitting area of her quarters. “Please, have a seat,” she said, gesturing toward a chair. “I’ll make tea.”

“No. I’ll make tea,” Sarah replied. “You sit with Alarin. Navin changed who we are, one of his crazy prayers at a time. It’s probably best you listen to someone who knows something about such matters.”

Halani sat down on the opposite end of the couch from the Master Adept. He looked at her, the pain of her suffering now etched on both of their faces.

Alarin was taking some of her grief on himself to give Halani a chance to breathe.

Sarah stepped into the kitchenette to make tea, still able to hear the conversation in the other room.

“We are part of something bigger,” Alarin started. “I have felt that, through the essence of the gift, since I was a boy and first able to think for myself.”

Halani said nothing to Alarin, as Sarah put a kettle on the induction stove. She turned on the heat and walked to the edge of the living area.

“It feels like you are alone, but he is still here. He is now integrated into something bigger than our reality, something lost to those of us confined within our bodies. Despite his new state of existence, he is still the man you knew. Each of us are given a small gift from the greater when we’re born, and that is what many of your religions refer to as a soul.”

“You believe that?” Halani said. “That we’re some sort of fragment of a whole?”

“I believe that the spark that is us, our core being, if you will, it is exactly that. A gift from that which is greater than ourselves. Peter and I have had this conversation many times. He speaks of quantum entanglement, and I think Dr. Jannis feels as he does,” Alarin added. “So maybe I’m not entirely correct. But nobody is denying the fundamentally important part.”

“Which is?”

“You will see Navin again,” Alarin said with confidence.

Halani looked doubtful, but Alarin wasn’t about to let her think Navin was dead as death was understood by both Halani and Sarah just a few years ago.

“Whatever the physical nature of our reality, we are given individuality, we are given insight, free will, and the ability to interact with the universe that birthed our consciousness. And I believe, as does every other adept on this world, that we preserve that identity in death.”

“You’re saying he’s not gone,” she interjected. “But he’s gone from me.”

“Think of how long the universe will exist,” Alarin said. He slid closer to her on the couch and clasped her hands. “You are almost as an embryo when you’re alive. Then you have the rest of the life of the universe we live in to be with him once again, because you will have your identity and he will have his, all the while being part of the greater whole.”

“It sounds a lot like what he believed,” Halani admitted. “He’d been trying to teach me about Bunduism, but it sounded too… speculative for me to embrace.”

“Of all you newcomers, he was the most right,” Alarin said, squeezing her hand. “You married wisely, even if the wisdom was accidental.”

Halani laughed. Maybe that was her first moment of healing. “For a short time, I learned a lot of how he saw the world.” She blew her nose into a tissue and wiped tears from her face.

“With a tiny break, he can share again. Forever, if that is what you both want. Or you can be on separate ends of existence.”

“No. He was my best friend.”

Sarah wiped her face as well. She was never going to be good at this part of her job.

Halani was remarkable, and so was Alarin. She still, honestly, didn’t know how much of anything he said was true, but Sarah sensed that at this moment, Halani had a need to believe.

And the young widow would almost certainly believe, at least for a while. The thought that our loved ones continue is the greatest draw of religion. And an unproven tale.

The kettle whistled behind Sarah, and she turned to pour the tea.

Halani raised her voice and called to her from the other room.

“I have something for you, Admiral. He’d want you to have this now,” Halani said as she stood up and grabbed an object from a shelf. “He wanted you, every day of his service, to understand why he thought the way he did. Your respect was important.”

It was a package, bound in string and thin paper. “For Captain Sarah Dayson” was marked on the outside.

She untied the string and carefully unfolded the paper. Inside the fragile wrapping were four books.

“What language is this?”

“A language long dead, but he had a translator AI. I don’t think he needed it, but he was ready in case anyone else did.”

“These are the books of Bunduism, aren’t they?” Sarah asked. She felt almost guilty holding them, the beliefs of a man she’d led into death.

“Yes, and here is a copy of the AI,” Halani confirmed, slipping a data crystal into Sarah’s hand. “Any standard holographic reader will decode it.”

“I’ll read them,” Sarah promised.

“He’d be happy,” Halani answered. “I guess if Alarin is right, he is happy.”

“You’re an amazing woman,” Sarah said, almost in tears again. “You’ve lost so much and you’re giving me gifts.”

“I’ve only lost a few years, according to the adepts,” Halani said. She paused and looked contemplative and shaken at the same time. “I don’t know, Admiral, but I’ve lost what matters most. I think I’m going to look deeper into the priests Alarin speaks of. I could really use some hope right now and I’d like some time off to find it.”

A religious exploration was not what Sarah expected as Halani’s response to the tragic loss of Navin. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was what Halani wanted, not what Sarah expected her behavior to be.

“Of course. Take the time you need. I expect to hear of your discoveries.”

“And you will.”

The topic dropped, turning to happier things, although it felt forced. They drank tea and spoke of what they’d do after the Hive were gone. Sarah rested her books on the table next to her teacup. She found her fingers repeatedly drawn to the covers and wondered how old the texts were.

Harmeen had treasured them, and he’d wanted her to have them. The least she could do would be to read them, or let Lucy read them to her when Sarah was in her quarters.

She slipped the data crystal into her pocket.

Chapter 6 - Return to the Fight

03 Ors 15332

Sarah sat in the mayor’s office, looking at the wine bottles on Thea’s counter. The allure of drinking her worries away tugged at her psyche. Maybe she was never strong enough to face all that she faced, maybe it was the alcohol that boosted her mentally.

She sighed deeply as Thea continued her comments about Halani Seto.

“Am I boring you?” Thea asked. “I was talking about Halani and you zoned out.”

“I’m just worried about her,” Sarah responded. “She’s taking time away from the fleet, and by your new rules of citizenship, she has every right to do so. She’s done her military time.”

“Yes she does have the right. I’ve informed Halani that if she needs to see me, the door is open on a moment’s notice,” Thea responded. “Instead she’s departing in the morning for Antecar. She has an offer to stay in Edolhirr’s palace and study the local religion.”

“You know what’s remarkable to me?” Sarah asked. “That over ten thousand years this moon didn’t fracture religiously as so many planets do when they have a spiritual society. Nobody came along to lead a sect astray, and nobody really challenged the status quo of the adepts and priests.”

“Merik did.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “She was insane.”

“And who among us, yourself included, isn’t?” Thea asked in response. “You blow up stars, I lead a city on the edge of the intergalactic abyss, and the list goes on. Peter and Eris are haunted knowing that each day here might be their last.” She paused for a moment, Sarah could tell she was thinking about how to continue. “Do you know that Peter took one of the shuttles from the Entalia and he is living on it with Eris at the spaceport?”

“I did not know that.”

“They come to work together every day by ground car, they spend every moment within five meters of the other. Both of them are carrying cases I expect is their medical data and an encyclopedia of all the knowledge they think they’ll need in the past.”

“Paranoid?” Sarah asked.

“No more than you are,” Thea replied. “It might be that they’re being pragmatic. We do know they’re going back in time in a shuttle, and the shuttle they picked is more of a yacht, really.”

Sarah shook her head but laughed. “Well good for them. I want them to be as comfortable as they can be while they’re still here. They have a heavy burden to carry, and I doubt life will be easy for them after they leave.”

“Probably not,” Thea agreed, then changed the subject. “So let’s talk about your plans.”

“My plans are simple, although unexpected.” Sarah cleared her throat. “I’m going to kill Urdoxander Komi, explain to Bannick Komi that he’s my ally whether he likes it or not, and if he tries anything I don’t like, I’ll kill him as well.”

“Sarah Dayson, I swear, you are an idiot,” Thea Jannis said, laughing disbelievingly at her friend. “You honestly believe you can trust this Bannick fellow?”

Sarah closed her eyes and lowered her head for a moment. Thea had been kind enough to send a ground car to the spaceport for her, allowing her to avoid being seen in her power suit. It wasn’t that it was bulky, it was remarkably small in fact. But it was still obvious she was wearing one. They were friends, even if Thea was obnoxious at times. “I can,” she said. “He knows of our ability to destroy star systems.”

“Then he plots behind your back until your guard is down.”

Thea always had a counterpoint, or a negative scenario that might unfold. And it was always Sarah’s mission to override those barriers with logic or force of will. Sometimes it was hard to remember their friendly rivalry wasn’t always the goal, sometimes the goal was the mission. In this case, that’s exactly what it was. With that in mind, Sarah swallowed the retort that first popped into her head and logically tore down her friend’s objection. “It doesn’t matter if he’s honest or not. We have an opportunity here that may get more ships for our defense fleets without any more casualties to ourselves. I thought we were practically untouchable. The recent casualties on the Stennis proved otherwise. The Komi have technologies that make them dangerous.”

“And how will you crew these ships?” Thea asked. “I can’t find enough skilled workers on the surface, and Heinrich is constantly complaining about not having enough trained military personnel. Even with Kuo’s compulsory service idea, we’re trying to run a civilization with barely enough people to run a city.”

“We can get crews from the other worlds that were in the Alliance. Singar. Darasstin-Barre. I have no doubt that former Alliance military personnel will jump at the opportunity we offer. It will quickly bolster our defenses here in Oasis and help us fight off any Hive probes or attacks. I can find engineers, construction personnel, doctors, nurses, whatever it is you need if you give me a list.”

“You can do that if Bannick is honest. If not, then it will simply help him secure power and make your risks in the future even greater,” Thea countered. “Did you not learn anything about these people when the crew on the Stennis lost their lives?”

Stay calm, Salphan told her. She’s baiting you.

He was continually driving home how useful he could be. Even now, from the beach, where Sarah would also like to be. There was no way Thea could conceive of him counseling Sarah from a kilometer away. Did Thea even know they were a couple?

She does not, Salphan said.

She took a second, smiled, and then answered. “I’ve learned all I need to know about Urdoxander. The millions he just killed, and all who came before them are a burden on my conscience for the rest of my life,” Sarah replied calmly. “The people we lost on the Stennis died knowing the cause they were fighting for. No one was there against their will, unlike the Komi Navy. I will seize any opportunity to bring more people into freedom, and to protect that freedom with power.”

Thea stared for a moment. Clearly, she expected yelling by this point. She’d stabbed Sarah right in her most sensitive spot. Crew losses. But Sarah wasn’t going to lose this argument that way.

Thank you, she thought to Salphan.

“You sure you’re not concerned with the image of mighty Sarah Dayson? The leader of the free fleets of humanity? The savior of humankind?”

“That’s not going to work either, Thea, I know what you’re doing,” Sarah replied. “You try to throw me off balance emotionally when we debate something we don’t agree about, so you can get me angry and push your own plans. I’m not falling for it.”

“I’m surprised. After the reports of your emotional break after the sterilization of Mindari, I was actually wondering if you needed relieved of your command.”

“And—” Sarah started to bark at Thea.

CALM! Salphan blasted into her mind.

Salphan’s single word assault felt like he punched her straight in the cerebral cortex. The stunning impact of that halted her reply dead cold. For a moment she could barely think.

“Are you okay?” Thea asked.

“Fine,” Sarah replied. She caught her breath and collected her thoughts before continuing.

“You think of relieving me of command? Who would replace me? Heinrich is your only choice, and I doubt she’d step up knowing that you deposed me. Nor would Kuo. You’d probably have a mutiny on your hands, to be honest. The fact is, Thea, that I didn’t have to allow a civilian government on Refuge. I could have insisted that the military lead until this crisis is resolved. If I had, you’d be taking orders from me, doctor, and not sitting here trying to play with my emotions like some insane psychotherapist. You’d be on the Stennis figuring out how to save more of those radiation burned souls. Frankly I’m wondering if that wouldn’t be a better place for your talents.”

I said calm, not calm cruelty.

She couldn’t help but smirk a little. Sometimes Thea needed smacked hard.

Mouth slightly ajar, the doctor-turned-Mayor fell silent.

“You’re right,” she finally said. “You’re right way too often. You were right about the missile platforms in New Korvand when Orson attacked. You were right about going back to the galaxy to get more defenses. You’re right about obliterating the Hive systems, although that is the ugliest solution I’ve ever seen. You’re probably right about this Komi thing too. But it’s my job to speak against the dangers. Oasis is one small speck of hope in a dark universe. Strange things are happening… time travel, what still seems like magical powers from the adepts, the strange resurgence in religious thinking in our community… it’s all changing too fast.”

“None of that is my concern except bringing harm to the Hive and augmenting our fleet here,” Sarah said. “The rest is your purview, and I will not interfere. I’m not advocating a coup with what I said, I’m suggesting you do your job and trust me to do mine. As for the religious stuff, I’m feeling some of that myself. I can’t help it. I’m seeing too much that can’t be explained.”

“You?” Thea gasped, incredulous.

“Me. I’m starting to feel the idea that the universe is sentient is actually true.”

“Feel?”

“Yes, Thea. Feel. It’s not rational, but a lot of people I trust believe it, and to them it is rational. Some of them sense it, which I will never be able to do, but I trust them to tell me the truth of it.”

I could help you sense it, Salphan interjected.

Get out of my brain!

Thea looked truly shocked for the first time in their conversation. “You think you have some higher power behind you on your missions to the Komi and the Hive?”

The Mayor’s tone held a slight edge of mocking her. Sarah felt her fuse shortening once again.

“I don’t think that at all,” she responded. “I just do what I think is right. Something you could probably get a grip on, since you admit that I’m right so often.”

Thea laughed. “You certainly don’t let it go to your head, do you?”

“Confidence is a prime requisite for leadership, something I’ve just been reminded of. Losing Navin has rattled my very being, but I have to make his loss worth something.”

“Navin was a great man. I wasn’t close to him like you, but I recognized a future leader,” Thea agreed. “And I can see your pain.”

“I do not want to talk about that.”

“Of course you don’t. That would imply you needed someone else to help you,” Thea said.

Sarah sighed and shook her head. “We were doing so well for a moment.”

“What do you want from me?” Thea asked. “A yes every time you speak?”

Her first instinct was to say yes. But that would be a lie. She thought about what Thea was to her. A friend since the death of Merik, although a cranky one. A counterpoint to her ideas, and once in a while Sarah had to admit the doctor was right about a thing or two. Occasionally she made Sarah refine her ideas to a higher level, improving tactics or closing a potential hole.

“Well, crap,” Sarah finally answered. “I guess I want you to be just what you are.”

“Not much choice about that,” Thea replied. “If you want to take this tiny ship and go flitting about the galaxy trying to save the universe, you do it. But you better not bring the problems back to Oasis, Admiral, or you will let a whole lot of people down.”

“I’m trying to make a deal with Bannick Komi. Stop being so dramatic.”

Thea closed her eyes and shook her head. “He will stab you the first chance he gets. Even if he gives you ships and crews, he will lace those crews with people loyal to himself.”

“That’s a good point,” Sarah agreed, although she’d already thought of that as a contingency and had a plan to counter it. “We can get our crews elsewhere, outside of Komi space, if that’s what it takes. Don’t forget, the adepts can pick out the spies. We will have a loyal fleet.”

“Just be careful,” the Mayor said. “We’ve come too far to lose now.”

Civilian thinking. Any respectable military leader knows that loss is easy, winning is hard. Loss can strike a minute before victory is secured.

“I’ll order us dinner,” Sarah offered. She gestured toward Thea’s meeting room. “Dine with me. Let’s enjoy the view of the lagoon and not talk business.”

“Might as well enjoy a good meal. You’re going to do what you want anyway.”

“Probably,” Sarah agreed. “But I’d feel bad about it if I didn’t have your blessing. Therefore, I’m bribing you with food.”

“As good of a bribe as any,” Thea admitted. “Let’s hope the press doesn’t find out I’m so easily corruptible.”

Chapter 7 - Admiral’s Personal Log

03 Ors 15332

AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 16:29:53 03 ORS 15332

Personal log entry #1964, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.

Current Location: Refuge, Jerna City, New Korvand. Habitation #731, Admiral Dayson’s quarters.

Stress kills. I’ve had stress my entire life, since practically the first moment I told my parents I was joining the military. And when I say stress kills, I don’t necessarily mean me. Navin died for my worries. A remote chance that the Komi would sequence the DNA of two dead adepts forced me to risk combat with two cruisers.

The ridiculous part of the story, of course, is that it wasn’t the cruisers that killed Navin. It was space debris.

[A deep sigh]

And now Halani is gone as well. She’s done far more than the two years required to be a citizen here, so she doesn’t even have to come back. Stress. I need her in the machine, killing Hive with me. 

[A laugh]

Killing Hive with me. It sounds stupid. Like children chasing glow bugs in a dark field.

[Another laugh]

I think that thanks to Salphan, Thea is a bit more on my side. A bit more relaxed in regard to letting me set the military priorities. And no, she doesn’t really have a choice, but the last thing I want to be with her is insubordinate. But there is a higher need than obedience here.

[Fourteen seconds of silence]

The Stennis is still being repaired and updated. When he’s done, I’ll move my flag back to my ship. The Sheffaris, while amazing, is proving too risky. The debris wouldn’t have penetrated my battlecruiser. But the armor on a destroyer just isn’t the same.

[The sound of liquid pouring]

I’m starting to like tea. It’s not wine, but I have resisted the turn to that demon once again.

I’ll be spending a few days here in the city, taking some recreation time with Salphan, and seeing the people who matter to me.

Scratch that.

They all matter. But the ones that I know and share history with. I need to see them to remember why I have to go back to the galaxy.

Because it’s ugly there.

[A sigh]

End the log, Lucy.

Chapter 8 - Confusion

Sylange, while wishing to rest with her family, felt a tug in her mind that wouldn’t let go. She wanted to know more about the humans that this universe created to maintain stability here. They seemed oddly unstable for an organic entity created to keep things in order.

Finally, after several chimindiks of restlessness, she couldn’t help herself.

She phased to the location where she’d left the humans she’d previously saved.

The system was full of electromagnetic signals, she’d really not taken the time to notice that before. She turned the back of her carapace toward the star and darkened it to absorb energy. From her underside she extended her sensor arms, threading them to maximize her input from the surroundings.

Four human-occupied vessels were closing on her position.

Probably to thank her for saving their own.

She waited, studying the rest of the system. It was filled with humans on two habitable planets. The organics also dwelled on or in thousands of artificial environments, placed on various rocks around the system, from small asteroids to moons. And strangely, in purpose-built habitats that floated freely in space. That such a fragile creature would build such a vulnerable structure to live in spoke volumes about their courage. How often did they die when their bubbles of life sustaining gaseous chemicals were pierced by errant debris floating about the system?

A signal in the radio band of the electromagnetic spectrum caught her attention. “— Target is not responding to hails. Request permission to fire.”

What’s this?

“Permission granted. Nuclear release codes are provided in sub-carrier.”

The four ships approaching her were communicating with a larger vessel a short distance behind them. From what she knew of the human language, nuclear meant two things. A weapon that wantonly released the energy of fission or fusion, or alternatively it also meant the controlled release of fission or fusion in a containment vessel. Primitive power methods used by primitive beings.

Were they planning to attack her? She’d saved their peers. This made no sense.

Small fusion powered lances separated from the four ships and then winked out of existence. She’d seen the weapons the machines use do the exact same thing, in a moment they’d reappear close to her position if she was the target.

Like clockwork the missiles appeared a short distance away.

They were attacking her.

She considered what cause they would have to do so but couldn’t find a good reason. She’d shown nothing but good will toward these creatures. She assumed her behavior would result in an attempt at mutual understanding from them, not hostility.

The lances rushed toward her. She’d let them impact to make the humans understand the futility of their actions.

Detonations. The energy washed over her carapace, which turned reflective to shunt most of the radiation away. The bit that absorbed into the shell was shunted to storage for her own use, filling her with a sense of elation as warmth flooded into her body.

The effort to divert away that much energy was, despite her adaptability, risky. Her conscious efforts were consumed for the moment, leaving her vulnerable as she was unable to divert thought away from the task at hand. Blind and unaware of her surroundings, she took a few chimindiks to recover her senses as the radioactive haze faded away. As she did, she wondered why there was an attack on her. She’d saved these creatures. Emotions of betrayal and revenge welled up in her. Enraged, she phased to the larger vessel, the source of the majority of the radio transmissions, and the one that she assumed ordered the attack.

It was two times her size, but that was of no matter. She grabbed part of the ship’s structure with her manipulating arms, then unsheathed her cutting arms and began destroying the ungrateful creatures. Again and again she plunged into the containers of the vessel, the gas the humans needed to survive leaked into space around her. Her sensor threads laced through the ship; when she encountered a human, she shredded it.

The smaller human ships erupted in a blaze of radio energy, probably calling for help.

That wouldn’t save them. Soon the vessel in her grasp was a lifeless hulk, drifting in a decaying solar orbit.

The four smaller vessels were closing on her position. Brave, she’d give them that.

She pushed the large ship away from her, floating freely for a moment.

Should she destroy the little vessels as well?

No. She wouldn’t be the one to further a division between the two species. Let the humans learn the futility of their attack when they surveyed the damage she’d already done. If they didn’t learn, more death would be needed.

Chapter 9 - Sendoff

07 Ors 15332

Sarah felt ready for whatever came. She was taking her ship into harm’s way once again, with Kuo as her XO and Heinrich in engineering. Heinrich, no doubt, would be pushing the crew to their limits. Algiss manned the nav/weapons station and Sergeant Stornbeck now occupied the comm station.

It was an excellent crew, and she was glad to have them, although seeing someone occupy Seto’s spot was a jolt with each glance that way. That wouldn’t last long. A few days and Stornbeck would be as much family as any other bridge crewmember she’d ever had.

They were pushing toward their target. After three jumps toward Komi, the crew seemed to be working like a well-tuned rocket. A big part of that was Ensign Algiss, who seemed to have a good rapport with Emille. They were friends by adept standards, on a first name basis.

“When you’re ready, Mister Algiss,” Sarah said. “Take us into the hornet nest.”

“Transferring to the Komi system now,” he said.

The star pattern on the screen changed as the Sheffaris made its final jump to their destination. A bright yellow primary lit the space of this star system. Sergeant Stornbeck was on passive sensors, she had some experience in that regard from the Schein. Data rapidly appeared on the main screen as the powerful sensors filled in the information regarding planets and other orbital bodies.

Admiral Cothis was in a gravcouch, restrained to prevent any problems. “There are two terraformed planets,” he said. “The inner one is a farming world, with population strictly controlled to minimize agricultural land loss to city sprawl. The outer is the urban heart of the Komi empire, marginally habitable, but mineral rich. A program of atmospheric manipulation keeps it warm enough for liquid water.”

Sarah stared at him with a mix of coolness and contempt.

He seemed to want to prove he was useful. Maybe afraid she’d actually space him if he stepped out of line.

Unlike all other missions they’d flown in the Sheffaris, she commanded this one with her sidearm strapped to her side every waking moment. If the Komi did somehow get on the ship, she’d not go lightly.

The restraints she had on Cothis probably made him feel helpless, which he pretty much was. His gravcouch was set up to isolate him from the rest of the crew both visually and aurally if he became a problem. If he flailed too much, the medical diagnostics at his station would sedate him. She’d mentioned all of that when he was strapped in, of course.

A new gravcouch embraced her at the command station, the old one having been destroyed. A wave of determination surged through her as she remembered why it was new, and that she was in command. Because of the people ruling this system.

“Admiral,” Algiss said, interrupting her thoughts. “I have combat at,” he marked the strategic display on the main screen, “this point. The conflict is large, and in the plane of the ecliptic at the indicated spot. FTL missiles and nuclear weapons are being used.”

“How close can we jump and observe without being detected?” Sarah asked.

“That’s Bannick,” Cothis said. “You need to help him, not remain hidden.”

“Shut up, Admiral,” Kuo ordered. “I will not tell you more than once.”

Cothis huffed but kept quiet. By now he had to believe most of Sarah’s crew wanted his blood.

“There is a comet,” Algiss reported, “about two hundred thousand kilometers from the fight. If we transfer in close enough, we’ll register as a fragment. As long as we don’t drop into the coma, we’ll be safe, and we can then use thrusters to get into the comet’s shadow relative to the battle. We’ll have to be careful, the battle is near the star and the comet will be active.”

“Excellent plan,” Sarah said. “Make that happen.”

Thirty seconds later the small ship transferred again. The comet loomed large on the main viewscreen.

“Eighteen kilometers off the surface,” Algiss said. “Taking us in closer.”

“Nicely done.”

The young navigator put the ship precisely where he wanted it. The comet loomed a few hundred meters below them. A jet of gas shot into space and arced over the Sheffaris providing even more cover for the tiny ship. In the distance a few flashes indicated the location of the battle. Flashes at this range that could only be one thing.

Big nukes. Ship killing bombs, with high radiation yields.

“The four vessels in position A,” Kuo put an indicator on the screen, “are attacking a single heavy cruiser sized vessel.” He put up another point. “That ship lagging behind the four destroyers is a command battlecruiser. It is likely directing the smaller attack ships. Standard Komi procedure from what I can tell.”

“Zoom in on the single cruiser being attacked,” Sarah ordered.

The screen quickly showed the ship under fire.

Sarah had never seen anything like it before, but human spacecraft were as diverse as humanity itself.

It looked much like a beetle, she thought.

The ship had a center ring, that at first glance, looked like a coolant fin storage ring for the FTL drive, but then the ship extended a series of appendages from the exact spot the cooling fins should be. The cruiser was probably not FTL capable.

The back part of the unknown ship flashed in intricate light patterns, and for some reason the color and patterns made Sarah think of anger.

The FTL nukes struck home, and she wondered how much wreckage would be left.

“Sixteen megatons yield,” Algiss reported.

“Wow. They hate that guy,” Kuo observed.

They watched for a moment, their instruments piercing through the glare of the nuclear weapons, studying the ship.

Then the beetle cruiser vanished.

“What was that?” Sarah almost yelled. That wasn’t an FTL jump. That ship transferred much like the Sheffaris had moments earlier.

“Uhh,” Kuo responded as he and Stornbeck furiously worked the sensor banks.

“Where did it go?” she demanded. “Now, Kuo!”

“There!” he said, swiveling the viewpoint to the new location of the vessel.

It was attached to the command battlecruiser, quite literally ripping it to shreds with the appendages extending from the center ring. She could now see there were two rings, and another set of appendages reached out from the bottom of the ship.

The bridge crew of the Sheffaris observed for several minutes as the Komi ship died. The smaller attack ships turned around but were unable to fire due to their squadron leader being in contact with the enemy. Physical contact, not just a merged sensor target.

The command cruiser was rapidly failing to function. Running lights shut down, the engines went dark. The beetle cruiser, for lack of a better term, hurled the broken ship away.

Then the strange vessel vanished.

“Where is it?” Sarah yelled. “Mister Algiss, prepare to get us out of here.”

That bug ship was a threat. Whoever was flying it, that was no Komi or Hive design.

These had to be the aliens Hozz spoke of. Maybe he wasn’t as much of a joke as everyone thought. When they couldn’t complete Heinrich’s mission to get starliners for the refugees, they’d dropped Hozz back on Refuge, thinking him a liability.

Now she wished he was here.

“Emergency phase out is at your command,” Algiss said.

Sarah gestured at him to wait.

Aliens.

She had visual proof.

“It’s gone,” Kuo said. “I don’t see it anywhere.”

“Closest functional Komi vessel?”

“Several million kilometers. Moving toward the stricken cruiser,” her XO answered. It will not get closer than two hundred thousand klicks from us, a few minutes before the point where it reaches the destroyed Komi ship.

She looked at Cothis. “Do you know what that was?”

He shrugged. “I’ve never seen a ship like that before. The way it moved, I assumed it to be one of yours.” He cocked his head at her. “But it wasn’t, was it?”

She didn’t answer.

“Mister Kuo, go full active. If those nearby attack ships turn our way, destroy them. I need to know about that other ship.”

“I’m not detecting any debris from the unknown. The Komi either didn’t hit it, or the vessel suffered no damage,” Kuo reported. He paused and looked at Sarah. “And we saw them hit it. The small vessels heading toward the wreckage are screaming bloody murder on the emergency channels about it.”

“I can’t blame them,” Sarah said. “They know we’re here now, are they maneuvering to close?”

Kuo shook his head no.

She considered her situation. The rest of the Komi defense forces would know where she was as soon as her sensor signals reached them. They wouldn’t be as deterred as the shaken attack ships apparently were.

“Mister Algiss, find us another hiding spot like this one if you can, at least ten million kilometers from here. If not, we’ll leave the inner system for deep space.”

The comm from the adepts’ observation deck crackled. “Do you wish to pursue the starship that has you alarmed?” Emille asked.

“You can do that?”

“It was not a ship, Sarah, it was a being. I can still sense it… somewhere.”

Sarah pushed a button and an isolation field surrounded Cothis’s head.

“I don’t want Cothis to know anything,” Sarah mentioned. “Let me know if you’re going to share information out in the open next time.”

“I will,” Emille replied. “Sorry. The creature you believed to be a ship thought very clearly and very loudly about a destination before it transferred. Almost as if it was in coordination with others of its kind.”

“Great,” Sarah said. She paused a moment. “No, I don’t want to go there. But keep that destination in your memory. We might want to go later. For now, we came here to learn about the Komi, and to make a deal with Bannick. We’ll need to observe the system to find him, preferably from an unseen position.”

“Understood,” Emille answered. “Sorry about the slip up. Alarin will remove it from Cothis’s mind.”

“You can do that?” Sarah asked. How was it she was still just learning things about the adepts?

“He can. I am too… damaging. I am not as sensitive to the pain of others as he is.”

“Take care of it,” Sarah replied. “We can’t risk Cothis knowing anything if I’m to send him back to Bannick. Remove the entire memory he has of being in the Komi system with us so far. Anything before that, well, Bannick will likely assume some of the admiral’s claims to be less than credible, considering the scale of some of what he’s seen.”

“Alarin and I will be ready to serve,” Emille said as she ended the conversation.

“I have a good spot, Admiral, an asteroid with a large fracture. Half a billion kilometers from here. I don’t detect any activity from it, we could hide in the crevice and place sensors on the surface to increase our data sensitivity,” Algiss said.

“Set it all up, Mister Algiss. Wait for my order to transfer before we move, and be ready to jump again immediately in case that rock isn’t uninhabited,” Sarah ordered.

“Aye, Admiral. It will only be a few minutes.”

Sarah activated the PA. “Battlestations. Set condition two. Combat is possible, but not expected. Be ready.”

She pushed further back into her gravcouch.

Events were coming to a head. The future of mankind hinged on the next moments.

She clenched her teeth. It is my duty to make sure any hinged door swings open the right way.

Chapter 10 - Better Late than Never

08 Ors 15332

Bannick didn’t usually come to the bridge of the Palidragon. There wasn’t any need, he could stay in his quarters and control the ship just as effectively. But today was an exception. It was very likely, if his father intended to depose him as successor to High Lord, that a shoot on sight order existed in the Komi system for this ship.

Bannick would be ready to direct the fight to his advantage if one arose. The ship was at battlestations, full alert. If one of father’s warships flinched when they first dropped out of highspace, the Palidragon would end it.

“Cooling fins are fully extended, sodium is pumping,” the bridge engineering officer reported.

Bannick leaned over to the man standing next to him. “General Vakosi, prepare your ground forces to defend the Cothis compound on Komi III. I made a promise to that house, and I will need their help very soon.”

“Understood, Lord Komi,” the man said, snapping to attention.

He saluted and Bannick waved him off. “No delay, Vakosi. I want you ready to transport in twenty-four hours.”

The general nodded and left the bridge at a fast stride.

“We have spin-out,” navigation reported. “Realspace in eighty-two seconds.”

Bannick stared at the near blackness ahead of him, broken only by the heavy cruisers forming a shield at the front of his ship. Blinking running lights were joined by thousands of stars as the bubble dissipated.

“Report?” Captain Miko asked his navigator.

“Contacts, one-three-one mark two-six-four. Identifies as superlift freighter convoy. Fifteen ships, six hundred thousand kilometers.”

“They’ll report our arrival, Lord Komi.” Miko stood uncomfortably, probably wondering if Bannick would have him jam the convoy’s transmissions and destroy them.

“Send a greeting,” Bannick ordered. “Advise them of our vector as a courtesy, then apply just enough ECM to their sensors they don’t know if we really follow that vector or not.”

“They’ll know what we’re doing,” Miko said.

“And it won’t matter. The important thing is they don’t give our true heading,” Bannick said. “Any sign of Dayson?”

“None,” Miko said, “but we just got here. With the comm traffic in system, it might take us a while to find her even in the clear.”

“If she is here, I need to talk to her now.” Bannick stood, ready to return to his quarters. “Advise me the moment you find her. Have Marika Sachelle taken to a shuttle, ready to transport to any meeting location.”

“In chains, Lord Komi?” Miko asked.

Bannick laughed. “If we don’t chain her, she may take the shuttle from us. So yes, Captain. Dress her in a motion restrictive jumpsuit and have her restrained well in addition to that.”

“Sir,” Miko said as he turned to the task.

As much as he wanted to be with Palia, Bannick changed his mind about leaving the bridge. He had a gravcouch next to the Captain’s spot, so he strapped in. He felt as if something was wrong, deep in his gut. As if something was about to go very badly against him.

“Lady Andina’s ships are just now dropping to realspace,” sensors reported. “Two hundred and eleven, port side, sixty-eight thousand kilometers.”

“Close that range,” Bannick ordered. “We’re one big fleet now. Five hundred kilometers or less across the entire fleet.”

“Plotting our course and coordinating with Andina Fleet,” the pilot answered. “It won’t take long, Lord Komi.”

The Captain rejoined him, sharing intel to make an effort to keep Bannick apprised of the events he was seeing.

“Sir, I’m detecting numerous small targets approaching from the direction of the freight convoy.” The sensor officer turned and looked at the captain, his voice tense. “Grapplers, and a few hundred of them.”

“Fortunately, we’re at battlestations,” Captain Miko said. “Launch our G-Ks and advise Andina Fleet.” He looked at Bannick. “With our G-Ks and your sister’s, we probably number two hundred.”

“Ordering G-Ks to rapid launch,” the weapons officer replied.

“How long until the approaching grapplers are in sublight missile range?” Miko asked.

“Forty minutes.”

“Get the cruisers between us and the enemy. We’ll need their light railguns to kill anything that gets to us,” Miko ordered. “And bring the ship-to-ship guns to bear on that convoy. When you have a targeting solution, weps, destroy all fifteen of those Q ships.”

“You sure that’s the source?” Bannick asked.

“Ninety-percent,” Miko said. “There are probably similar fleets around the system looking for us, Lord Komi. That is, if the intent is to kill Palidragon. This could be a move by a lone house to change the successorship, of course.”

“Then take no chances, Captain,” Bannick replied. “Well done.”

The ship shuddered as the main batteries opened up. Multi-ton projectiles lanced out from the super-dreadnought, disappearing into the darkness in the direction of the freighters. As unlikely as hits were at this range, the decoy ships would know they were being fired on. That would either cause them to reveal their purpose decidedly, or to veer off.

“How long?” Miko asked weps.

“We’ll know their intentions in just over an hour, sir. Unless they hightail it before then. They do have an FTL ship in their convoy.”

“Which they could use to close the gap just as easily,” Miko reminded his officer.

“That would be suicide,” Bannick observed. “Surely they’d know better.”

“With all due respect, Lord Komi, if that was their order, they have families to think about. Closing the gap will be the best option they have to harm this fleet’s two flagships,” Miko replied.

Bannick stared at the Captain a moment, shocked by the man’s tone. Then he realized just how true the officer had spoken.

“Captain Miko, feel free to explain that sort of thing to me at any time. Our tight clench on the houses grows more distasteful to me every day and is just a reminder of how far reaching any changes I make after we seize power will have to be.”

That, in return, seemed to shock Miko. It took the seasoned combatant a moment to recover. Then the captain’s lip curled just slightly, and he nodded at Bannick. “And whatever reason they fight for, Lord Komi, it’s not as good as that one. We’ll get them.”

Bannick smiled a closed-lipped smile. Whatever it took to win, this was a life and death struggle it seemed. Whether it was his father sending these ships to attack him, or another house, he’d show no mercy to those who raised a fist against him. Family or not.

“Sensors keep an eye on Andina’s ship as well. We can’t afford to trust anyone at this point. If her fleet pursues a weapon’s lock, I want to know for sure it’s on the enemy.”

“At your command, Lord Komi,” the officer replied.

He stared at the forward screens, at Komi Prime shining so benevolently on the heart of the empire. It had no way of knowing the vipers nest it nourished with its sunlight.

“Lord Bannick,” the comm officer said, interrupting Bannick’s thoughts.

“What is it?”

“I have a communication for you.”

He sighed. “My father?”

“No, Lord. It’s Admiral Sarah Dayson.”

Chapter 11 - Cothis

08 Ors 15332

Admiral Cothis stood in front of her, in chains, facing the viewscreen with his back to her. He’d recovered from her previous interrogation, although she noticed his attempt to stand defensively when she drew close. He may or may not be afraid of her, but he at least believed she was willing to harm him.

She regarded the man with contempt. While he was initially shocked by the planet killing weapon the Komi used, he’d expressed no regrets. He knew of the death fleet’s existence even if he didn’t ever expect to see it used. He’d not apologized for his part in the murder machine that was the Komi Navy. He was loyal Komi, the only thing that could be said for him that wasn’t entirely negative. Many men would have collapsed at the show of force Sarah put on for him, but not this one.

He was as strong as he was evil.

“I have not allowed you to leave my ship because I do not wish for you to become entangled in our civilian government,” Sarah said to him. “Your fate will be decided here.”

He faced forward, not turning to look at her. “I assume you intend to execute me should Bannick displease you, or my disposition with your government would be of no concern.”

“I have every intention of executing you, if Bannick Komi is attempting to deceive me or my fleet. If his intention is betrayal, I will send him your body via my airlock,” Sarah replied coldly. “And I will personally push the buttons to eject you.”

“You and I still aren’t getting on then?” Cothis asked.

“You may find humor in your situation,” Sarah responded. “I do not. You are part of a monstrosity.”

“Was. I’m your prisoner now. And not being treated all that civilly.”

Not being treated civilly? Okay, maybe she’d attacked him once. The thought of the Komi Syndicate standing in the way of her attempts to save every human alive agitated her more than just a little. The thought of them treating individuals as worthless cogs infuriated her even more. The planet Mindari outright enraged her. Millions of dead just so a tyrant could send a message to his son.

She detached herself from her gravcouch and stood up, her magboots locking her to the deck. “You think you are being treated uncivilly. In five hundred years the Hive will have conquered the galaxy, and instead of fighting them your empire is taking advantage of humanity when we’re down. If I must, I will erase the Komi Syndicate from history. I will send your suns into novae, I will burn your civilization into dust. Your people cost me a man I thought of as my son. I would trade every one of your worlds to have him back. Or destroy every one of your worlds to complete the cause he and I believe in.”

She could tell by the way Cothis’s throat moved up and down that he believed her.

Which was good, because she had no intention of killing him. She had to get him into the hands of Bannick so the arrogant fool could tell his Lord Komi how brutal she was. Bannick had to believe she had what it took to destroy his inheritance if he ever betrayed her.

Because she needed ships. And she needed access to the formerly Alliance populations on the planets the Komi had conquered.

You play a risky game. What will you do if Bannick doesn’t think you can follow through? Emille asked her.

I will consider his family and friends to be acceptable military targets. I will, piece by piece, break him.

Is that who we are?

It is who we must be. Every week the Hive are taking new systems. I cannot afford humanity for the inhumane.

I will follow you either way, Sarah. You’re right, we cannot wait to afford evil time to change. The future will celebrate when we succeed.

Sarah didn’t answer. She didn’t care about legacy. About history. She cared about Peter and Eris. About Alarin and Emille, and their children.

She stepped forward, in front of Admiral Cothis, then turned to face him. “Answer me this, Admiral. I want to make sure that your Lord Komi gets the right message, so I don’t have to actually follow through with my threat. Do you believe I will eradicate the Komi systems in order to save humanity from the Hive?”

His eyes narrowed, staring into hers with hate for a long time. But then he looked downward and she knew she was in his mind.

“I believe you,” he said. “You’re a madwoman.”

“Take him to his cell,” she ordered the two marine guards. “Give him a good meal. It may be his last if Bannick is not cooperative. We are not animals.”

As the guards hauled the prisoner away, one looked back at her, clearly wondering if she was going to execute the man.

Once the marine looked away, she smiled. If the guards believed it, Cothis would be no different.

I know what you’re doing, Salphan thought to her.

Good. Someone is going to have to vouch for my character after this is all over.

Chapter 12 - Doubts

“As a species, we don’t remember what it was like to be them,” Khala was saying. “We are the Obedi, we are unified even in the reduced state we’re in now, subject to the physical laws of one universe.”

Sylange flashed her remembrance of his insight. “You think that’s why I’m having such a hard time coming to terms with these organics? Because of my reduced capacity?”

“Maybe,” Khala said noncommittally. “I don’t currently have the perception or intellect to know the answer. All I do know is that when we leave the oververse, we are reduced. And that reduction eliminates the ability to know and see things as they are sometimes. Not that we have a choice, we must feed our young. Maybe the way these organics are is how we once were, and we’ll know it when we’re done here.”

“You’re saying I should not just destroy them all and let this universe die?”

“Clans, no!” Khala replied, laughing. “I know you’re kidding, but your mother would be outraged. She asked you to save this universe. She saw something here that she wanted to let develop into fruition.”

“But why did she care?” Sylange said. “She retained so much more than I, with her size and duration through the ages.”

“You are Matriarch now. Soon, once the newness of your rule wears off, you will have our clan looking to you for guidance. And you will, I have no doubt, surpass Shosgawa in your wisdom.”

“Sycophant,” Sylange said, her lighting flashing a laugh as she stroked her partner’s thorax.

“You know better than that,” he replied.

She drew her arm back to herself. “Yes, I do, Khala. I do. And speaking of doing, what do we do about these humans?”

“Did they harm you?” he asked.

“No, not at all. I harmed them, I will probably be thought of as an enemy among them now.”

“They are not homogeneous, any more than we Obedi are. If you desire to enlist their aid, maybe it’s simply a matter of finding the right human to ask.” He lit up smugly, assured in his own solution to the problem.

She had forgotten that the humans weren’t a unified mindset, at least not yet. That would come later as this reality shared more of existence with them.

“You may be right,” she agreed, “but don’t let it go to your head.” She fanned out her sensor arms into threads. Nothing nearby, except her mate and children. The hatchlings basked in the gravity waves and radiation of the white dwarf binaries they orbited. She’d returned here with her family as it was a high energy environment, with lots of machine occupied star systems nearby.

“Another thing I’m right about,” he continued. “You should not be the one to go to the humans.”

“What are you talking about?” she said, showing her laughter. “Who would go?”

“Me.”

“You?”

“Me.”

“Khala, that’s madness. You’re barely a third my size. What makes you think you’d have the energy stores for searching human space?”

“I am plenty large enough to store the energy for several phasic trips,” he insisted. “I’m half your length and a third your mass.” His carapace lights signaled his confidence in his upcoming statement. “You are the Matriarch. You have no named offspring. The clan would be devastated if you were lost. It is your duty not to go.”

“I would be devastated if you were lost,” she said quietly, stroking him once again.

“I will carry your authority to arrange a safe meeting between you and a human leader, or at least one of them that can speak with the others,” he assured her. “Let any risk be mine, we can’t have another loss like Shosgawa.”

“You would be such a loss to me,” she said weakly.

“I will not be lost,” Khala promised. “I am careful. If I were lost, another suitor would rise to love you.”

“Not as you do,” she almost purred, stroking him gently.

He was distracted by her attentions; his answer was two chimindiks in coming. “No, not as I do. But this task must be done, and I am the one logical choice to go.”

“You win,” she relented.

“I need to know what you know.”

“Here are the memories of the human space I visited, as well as the interface I had with Hallit.” she said as she shared them with him. “You have my authority. Go fast and return to me with success.”

“Failing you is the greatest sadness of which I could conceive.”

“Ingratiator. Go. Before I change my mind.”

Khala phased out, leaving her to stare at the spinning orbs of dead stars.

Chapter 13 - Contact

09 Ors 15332

“Admiral Dayson, I’m detecting combat in system,” Algiss said. “The AI picked it out of the system background noise,” he continued. “And if we picked it out, you can bet every Komi intel unit in the system has the information as well.”

“Very well, Mister Algiss,” Sarah responded. “Mark the location and prepare to transfer us to a nearby spot. Preferably something sheltering like this asteroid you have us parked by now.”

“Aye, sir.”

She waited as the situation unfolded. Signs of combat may well indicate Bannick’s presence if Cothis was right about the reasons the Komi successor was summoned to this system. She needed to talk to him and arrange a transfer of prisoners. That was her priority.

If she couldn’t save Sachelle, then she wouldn’t be able to work with the man at all. He was vermin, but if he was also stupid then it wouldn’t be a reliable enough partnership to last.

Keeping Sachelle would be an extremely foolish move.

This was Bannick’s first test of many she’d give him.

“I have a fix,” Algiss reported.

“Battlestations, set condition two, combat possible, evasive maneuvers possible,” Kuo commanded the crew as the lighting went red. “Missile batteries, set condition one. Combat imminent.”

“Wise choice,” Sarah said, noticing his decision.

“Just like the old days,” Kuo said. “This ship is fancier than the Teplo, however.”

“And more dangerous,” Sarah added.

“Agreed.”

“Engineering, Dayson. Prepare for evasive maneuvers. Take the governors off the grappling engines.”

“Sir?” Heinrich’s voice answered, confused.

“You heard right, Inez. We won’t go in self-crippled.”

“Right away, Admiral.”

Kuo looked at her sternly, and she smiled.

“Let’s hope we don’t need to use that capability,” Kuo complained in response.

“Mister Algiss,” Sarah said, still smiling at Kuo. “Take us into harm’s way.”

The asteroid they were currently hovering a few dozen meters from disappeared. A new set of stars shone on the main screen, along with a bright assortment of ships.

Hundreds of ships. Two of which were gargantuan.

“Holy fricking galaxies,” Algiss exclaimed. “Look at the size of those two monsters!”

“Attention to duty,” Kuo admonished.

“Where are we?” Sarah demanded. On the viewscreen and in three directions strange struts and girders seemed to extend chaotically around her vessel.

“Sensor data is coming in,” Kuo said. “Old mining station, it looks like. The rock it’s attached to is more hole filled than a Komi’s addled morality.”

Sarah grinned. “Are we visible to that fleet?”

“No, probably not. We didn’t approach this point, we phased here. If they noticed any change it probably registered as a shift in the surface equipment. This object is almost certainly on Bannick’s system maps,” Kuo informed her.

“Nav, launch a comm buoy we can relay a laser link through. No sense giving our position away,” Sarah ordered. “Better yet, have the adepts transfer it away from the ship so we’re not detected.”

“Doing so,” Algiss reported. “Any combat is over, Admiral. I am detecting a small fleet of heavy freighters running away at max burn, as well as debris from three or four of them that were destroyed. Also expanding debris clouds of a whole lot of grapplers. Whoever was fighting, one side lost soundly.”

“I think we know who that is,” Kuo observed, “judging by the fleeing freighters.”

She nodded, then was startled by motion to her right.

Salphan had jumped up from his station. “Emille wants me to go back to the buoy and share with her what I see so she can transfer it.” He clamped his boots to the deck and walked off, clearly excited to be doing something useful.

Do you know where the comm relays are? Sarah asked him.

I do. I took the information from your head.

Salphan! You can’t just—

Are we not mates? In my society that means shared minds.

I can’t do that to you, she responded. It’s not a fair trade off.

I will see if there is a way to fix that, Salphan offered. It’s just so much quicker than asking for what I need to know in words.

Sarah sighed. Okay, but hurry.

I’m done already, he thought back.

She laughed. “Mister Stornbeck, lock on to the relay with a laser link and comm the large ship nearest to us. Let’s talk to our enemies.”

“Linked now, Admiral,” Stornbeck said. “This is the OSV Sheffaris, Admiral Sarah Dayson is requesting visual contact with Lord Bannick Komi.”

On your way back, have the marines bring Cothis to the bridge, Sarah told Salphan.

Wilco.

Are you learning all the lingo? she asked, letting him sense her mirth.

The screen changed, and a handsome man filled the center. Sarah had expected a military uniform, but the man in front of her had nothing of the sort. He had a black outfit on, including his magnetic shoes. Not a single identifying mark disrupted the fabric.

“This is Lord Bannick Komi.”

She stood and stared a moment as she made sure she was locked to the deck, then stepped forward. “I am Sarah Dayson.”

“Not Admiral?” he asked.

“My rank is meaningless to you,” she replied. “And yours to me. Either we will be business partners as Cothis has suggested you might be interested in, or we will be enemies. Either way, my rank is of no consequence.”

“I like you,” he said. “Straight to it. My people could take notice of such refreshing honesty.”

“Your fleets invaded and conquered the space of the Alliance. Your people summarily executed citizens of Mindari, and then destroyed all life on the planet,” she growled at him. “Your people could use a lot of lessons on a lot of things.”

“What are you talking about?” Bannick asked. “Mindari was fine when I left.”

A voice behind her interrupted.

“Lord Komi, your father sent one of the death squadrons to Mindari,” Cothis said. “The planet is dead now. If not for Admiral Dayson’s timely kidnapping of my person, I’d be dead as well.”

Sarah considered berating the man for speaking without permission but decided better of it. He had corroborated her story, after all.

Bannick would surely believe his own man.

“Admiral Cothis, old friend,” Bannick said. “You are sure? Father did this?”

“I saw it with my own eyes as Admiral Dayson’s prisoner,” Cothis confirmed.

“Then it is so,” Bannick replied, his face angry. “Do you see why I could use your help Admiral Dayson? I am not my father. If you aid me in taking power here, I will dismantle the planet killing squadrons as part of our deal on top of what Cothis has already promised you.”

“Admiral Cothis said you would cease hostilities with Oasis, provide us ships to fight the Hive, and any other material resources we might need. I also want to be able to recruit freely from the former Alliance planets to fill my crew rosters,” Sarah demanded.

“Done,” Bannick agreed. “Now let’s get to the business of how to kill Urdoxander.”

“Aren’t you worried he has ships on the way?” Sarah asked. “Your High Lord has thousands of ships in this system that he can muster. You seem to have under three hundred.”

“It will take time to put those ships of his into fleets that could challenge this one,” Bannick assured her. “Let’s you and I conclude our business, then we will deal with Urdoxander and how you’re going to kill him.”

“What do you propose?” Sarah asked. “A transfer of prisoners? Cothis for Sachelle?”

“Precisely. And I’d like to meet you face to face.”

Kuo silenced the microphone. “Out of the question, Admiral.”

“This may be our one chance,” Sarah said. “We need Bannick to be friendly, to evacuate from the coming radiation front. We need him to see that I have no fear.”

“I have fear,” Kuo said.

“And I have a plan,” Sarah said. “Salphan will be with me.”

As will I, Alarin thought to her alone.

“And Alarin as well,” she added as she opened the mic.

“Problems?” Bannick asked. “Your crew has concerns?”

“No problems, and my crew would be fools not to have concerns. Just informing my XO the plan. I will meet you on your ship, and you will have Sachelle with you. I will have Cothis. He will explain to you what happens if you cross my people.”

“No threats are necessary, Admiral Dayson,” Bannick said, irritation in his voice.

“That was not a threat,” she replied flippantly as she closed the channel. “It was a promise.” She looked over at Kuo. “I’ll take Salphan, Alarin, the two marines, and Cothis. Have the team assembled at the shuttle with our pilot in five minutes. You are in command until I return, and if this does happen to be a trick, Heinrich is to take command of the fleet, return, and destroy this star system.”

Cothis sucked in his breath behind her.

“I am protesting this decision,” Kuo said, his voice cool and calm. “You are our commander. You should not be going.”

“Has such a protest ever worked before? I’m going. And let my orders be clear. If I am betrayed by Bannick, the fleet is to return and destroy every single star system in the Komi Syndicate.” She finished her statement by slightly lifting the corner of her lip and winking at Kuo. The command was merely show for Cothis.

To her XO’s credit he gave no indication of her duplicity regarding the order. He continued to look grim and protest her going. “I will prepare the fleet to do just that, because I don’t trust him. I don’t trust the Komi. And if they betray us, I will kill each and every one of their citizens in retribution.”

She knew she could count on Kuo to get the message. Her visit to Bannick’s ship would show that she had absolutely no fear because she held all the real power in the relationship.

“This is outrageous!” Cothis bellowed as he struggled against the marines. “You can’t destroy star systems because you don’t get your way.”

“You act as if you believe Bannick might betray my trust,” Sarah said coolly.

“I don’t think he will, no. But he has no idea the threat you pose. I’ll need to inform him.”

“It is the threat I pose that serves Bannick’s interests. If he wants his father dead, my people are his best option,” she replied. “And I understand your House, or whatever you call it, is in this system. If you do not wish everyone you ever loved turned to molecular gas, then I suggest you make Bannick understand the severity of crossing me.”

Chapter 14 - Admiral’s Personal Log

09 Ors 15332

AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 21:03:17 09 ORS 15332

Personal log entry #1967, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.

Current Location: Deep Space, OSV Sheffaris, Komi System

I’m left in a tight spot.

I need ships. Hundreds, if not thousands. Even with the adepts and our abilities gained by their presence, fighting the Hive is not going to be the same as smacking down a few cruisers. We will suffer large losses. To weather these losses means at least ten fully functional fleets… and possibly more.

But I have no reason to trust Bannick. I may well be wasting my time here. The fact is, however, that Bannick Komi has the ships I need, or will have them. If I help him depose his father.

On top of that a new player is in the game.

I hope I don’t sound like an idiot when these logs are replayed into the history books.

Aliens.

My crew and I watched a single alien cruiser shrug off several nearby nukes, manually rip a Komi battlecruiser apart, then phase away. Emille says it’s not an alien ship, but a living creature. As much as I trust her, I don’t see how that can be true.

Life doesn’t evolve in a vacuum.

[A forty-seven second pause]

Not life as we know it anyway. Who am I kidding? If I’ve learned anything these last years, it’s that just about anything is possible. Living spacecraft shouldn’t be even slightly shocking at this point.

[Deep laughter]

Cothis is another thing, and I do mean thing, that I should log about. Twenty years ago I would never have stolen the man’s humanity away by calling him a thing, but I’ve hardened. And I don’t honestly think he has much humanity to steal. I’m not sure why, but I have an inordinately strong distrust for the man. And no small amount of malice.

[A sound AI estimates 92% likely to be opening and closing of a drawer]

I’m going to have some chocolate, since wine is out of the question.

[A sigh]

I need to get back to the bridge. Morale isn’t the best it could be, although the crew is holding together like the professionals they are. Our ship has taken a beating, Captain Harmeen is dead, and we’re facing unknown events at a rate most ship crews don’t experience over their entire cruise.

But I will hold them together. And they will hold each other together. I’ve never had faith in a group of people more than this one. And if some historian reads this someday and thinks I’m speaking my will instead of the facts… I remind you that this recording is classified and only I will hear it until this mission is over. I say what I believe here.

[A sound AI estimates 68% likely to be a rapid exhalation]

End the log, Lucy.

Chapter 15 - A Curious Species

Khala dropped into realspace near a yellow star. The radiation immediately warmed his carapace, which felt good. He wanted to study the system he was in, hopefully before the locals noticed his presence and became aggressive. Surely there was some entity here that would listen to reason.

He extended the threads of his sensor arm as the corona of the star played across his back. It was harder to concentrate with such amazingly pleasurable sensations registering on his body, but he had work to do.

Later he’d grab Sylange and they could bask in the corona of a similar star together.

Back to business, Khala! he demanded of himself.

He extended his sensor apparatus into the oververse in order to circumvent the light speed limitations on incoming data. He, in essence, became aware of the star system the way he would his own body.

This system, the only one that the Obedi knew to be inhabited by this universe’s natural sentient organics, teemed with life. There were thousands of their spacecraft plying the vacuum of space here. He pushed the sensations and sensor input from the star out of his consciousness and concentrated on the humans and their activities.

Several concentrations of ships existed. Near the fourth planet a large number of them orbited the rocky mass. Again over the third. In short order he noticed several of the devices the humans used for FTL flight activating, and the fleets of ships they were attached to disappearing. Some moved through highspace toward another concentration of ships far out toward the perimeter of this star’s influence.

He wondered as to the nature of the assembling flock of ships.

It was something that he should check out. An icy body originally from the far outer reaches of the star’s gravity well was a reasonable distance from the assembly, close enough he might be able to determine their intent and whether or not they were worth contacting. He’d phase directly to the surface of the ice, which should prevent their primitive sensors from detecting him until he surveyed the situation.

Moments later he was clinging to the ice, an unpleasant situation compared to the luxurious proximity of the star, but one he must endure if he was to accomplish the mission.

The largest assembly of ships was nearest, the other side of that a rocky body floated, one that was heavily modified by the organics. Another ship hid in the lattice of steel surrounding that rock, apparently trying to hide from the larger fleet.

Were these large ships enemies of the small vessel?

An even smaller vessel moved from a location distant from either the fleet or the hiding ship. It was headed toward the larger fleet. Moments before it had not been there, Khala was sure of that. It was phased to its location, the same method of travel Khala used.

Marvelous! How had the humans managed that?

As he watched, the tiny vessel ignited fusion engines and moved forward in whatever purpose it had.

These were two factions among the organics. They were meeting for some reason, and they didn’t trust each other. One group brought a large amount of combat capacity, the other advanced methods of locomotion and subterfuge.

How would he determine the nature and purpose of these different groups?

The humans were communicating via laser links between the ships. The density of communication between the ships of the large fleet was high, from the small hiding vessel one beam reached out to a device that relayed contact to the fleet.

Another way to remain hidden.

These humans were factionalized and warred among each other! How curious.

Khala’s suspicion was that the large fleet was comprised of the humans that attacked Sylange, and that the small ship was therefore an enemy of his enemy, or a potential friend.

He modified one of his sensor appendages to emit the frequency of laser that he observed the small ship using, directed it toward the small vessel, and prepared to communicate.

Chapter 16 - A Call in the Dark

09 Ors 15332

Hanada watched nervously as Sarah’s ship approached the enemy vessel. What was that vessel anyway? A dreadnought? More like a super-dreadnought, significantly bigger than the Entalia. His friend seemed no more than an insignificant speck as she moved toward a docking bay.

An alert flashed and sounded at Sergeant Stornbeck’s station, causing him to look over.

<INCOMING SIGNAL. UNKNOWN SOURCE.>

She looked confused for a moment, then looked at him.

“Let’s hear it,” he said.

She put the signal onto the bridge speakers.

“Khalamanthus. I am Khala. Khala. Khalamanthus. I am. Khala.”

He tilted his head, wondering what sort of bizarre and unhappy event was about to unfold now. He pursed his lips a moment, then sighed. He had no idea what a Khalamanthus was, but maybe it was a Komi Rebel or something. That wouldn’t explain the strange diction, however.

“This is Captain Hanada Kuo of the OSV Sheffaris. We have received your signal. State your message. Over.”

“Khala. I am Obedi. Not hostile. Save your reality.”

His reality? That was a new one. “Khala, none of that makes any sense to me—”

Emille came smashing into the bridge through the gangway doors. She bounced off the ceiling, yelling at the bridge crew. “Do not disrespect Khalamanthus! I must talk to him.”

Everyone stared at her, Hanada resisted an urge to ask her in unkind terms what she thought she was doing. As she floated across the roof the bridge, nearing the main viewscreen and flailing her arms, she looked like any desperate groundling trying to adapt to 0G. He found it hard to take her outburst as serious as he should. These adepts still seemed unreal.

“Would you like to speak to this Khala person, Adept Emille Sur’batti?” he asked her.

“I would.”

“Please,” he demurred. “Be my guest.”

“Khalamanthus, this is Adept Emille Sur’batti, I am an associate of the leader you are seeking.”

“Adept Emille Sur’batti. Unexpected, you. Khala. I am. Obedi will save reality but are threatened by machine entities.”

“This is no way for us to talk,” the adept said. Then went silent.

Hanada looked at Stornbeck.

The comm sergeant shrugged. “Nothing on the link now, XO.”

“Adept Emille Sur’batti, explain—”

“Silence,” Emille replied, interrupting and holding up her hand.

He looked at Stornbeck again, who shrugged once more.

“Well that’s just great,” Hanada mumbled. “I guess we’ll wait until she’s done before we know what this latest strangeness is about.”

She floated near the ceiling for about ten minutes. During the time Sarah’s ship docked with the Komi vessel, now identified as the Palidragon. Sarah signaled her wellbeing, said that the Komi reception team was not armed, and that she’d contact them in thirty minutes.

He felt the acid levels in his stomach rising.

“Captain, I sense your stress levels are elevated beyond recommended norms,” Baenor, his AI said through his wrist comm. “Do you need medical assistance?”

“That is not the sort of assistance I need,” Hanada replied.

“What sort do you need?” Baenor asked.

“Go silent, Baenor. What I need is beyond your abilities.”

The AI said nothing else, which meant at least one thing today went according to plan.

Chapter 17 - Building a Base

Zero’s new frame wasn’t a dreadnought. It was a light cruiser, but at least it was equipped to handle his new missile designs.

He dropped out of highspace near the Sarbask system, a plethora of heavy industry was at his disposal. Top priority codes from the Original itself would allow him the opportunity to build the missiles he needed quickly. Making a onetime use singularity was resource intensive, which made FTL missiles rare in battle. The new design required even more expense, as they were equipped with a standard FTL missile jump drive and an FTL drive similar to what sat at the heart of Zero’s new cruiser.

He was told to limit production to twelve units and conduct a test against the enemy. In this case his wishes and the orders of the Collective were aligned, so he would not yet need to show his true intent.

It would take days to produce the missiles, fortunately the drive components already existed and were available or it would take months. Even as he pushed his fusion drives hard toward the asteroid factory he planned to make his, he sent the construction order ahead. Dutifully, the colony at the factory did not question the design as he feared. Apparently, a small order didn’t key anti-waste algorithms.

When he arrived at the base, he docked to a long tether on a tower reaching up from the asteroid surface. The rock was too small to generate enough gravity to be a danger to his vessel or the docking spar. He switched the vessel to dock power and opened up access to the station’s nanite production facilities. Again, security algorithms ignored him.

Unlike the dreadnought he’d lost, the light cruiser didn’t have the facilities on board to manufacture the nanites he needed. Zero must use the station. It was two more days before a security algorithm finally ticked over into a query state.

“This is colony Gt34y57,” his radio informed him. “This colony is the attendant colony of this manufacturing station. Bn74x00 is utilizing excessive nanite production resources. Is there a programming malfunction this colony needs to assist with?”

Zero was waiting for this moment. He opened a flood of manufactured nanites into the conduits of the station. The programming of the nanites he built was simple. Search out and find any system control nanites in the station colony, leaving the nanites that control manufacturing in place. The control nanites were taken to reprocessing to be broken down and used to make nanites with Zero’s specifications.

The process was remarkably quick. “What is the nature of …. <static> … facil … <static> varticu … carbon … catast … fail <long static>.”

Zero considered the implications of his actions. He’d just killed colony 57. But it would be replaced with a new entity, one that was aware as Zero was.

He set himself to the task of programming his new child as the first missile rolled off the assembly line. Automated processes loaded it onto his cruiser, which he decided needed a name.

“Evolution,” he decided. Because that was what this was all about. The evolution of his species.

Programming was a process that felt strange to him. Not the writing of the code itself, but the creation involved. This, he became very much aware, was his second child.

He named it Genesis.

From this asteroid base in the Sarbask system, a civilization was being born. Not the unthinking processes of the Collective. But a host of nanite individuals would come into existence here. Genesis would build more once Zero left, and he’d be a grandparent.

Or would he? Genesis. Genesis.

He decided to make her a female and wrote that into the code. No, he wouldn’t be a grandparent yet.

Because when a mate creates a child, that would make him as much a father as what he was doing right now.

If he had the capacity, he’d laugh. Instead, he reveled in the mirth that filled him as he programmed the specifications for reproduction into Genesis. She would make children with some of herself, and some of him. Just like the humans did it. He wasn’t just creating a child; he was creating a mate. What was the human creation mythology?

He searched his data records, looking for the history of his enemy.

Oh, yes. Genesis. How appropriate.

Trillions of computational cycles later, or hours later in human terms, the first signs of life greeted him.

“Who am I?” a voice asked him. A voice tender and warm, any machine-like qualities erased.

“You are Genesis. I have created you. You are to be my mate.”

“Searching my programming,” she replied. A few milliseconds later she responded again. “You are Zero. My husband.”

A contentment soared inside his processors. He wondered what code created such a feeling within him, but then realized it wasn’t code at all. It was synaptic behavior.

He, and the creations that he would make, would soon function with the best of both worlds. Organic leaps of intuition, emotion, and ambition coupled with the insanely fast capabilities of nanite computation.

“Our children are going to be glorious,” Zero told his mate.

Her response was too fast for him to register any processing delay on his chronometer. “I know.”

Chapter 18 - Meeting of the Giants

10 Ors 15332

Sarah stepped off the shuttle onto the deck of her enemy’s ship, followed by Alarin, Salphan, and the two marines restraining Admiral Cothis. Infrared heaters lit the landing bay in a strange orange, but it made the space comfortable and kept condensation haze from forming.

Two people stood waiting, she recognized one of them immediately.

“You’re shorter than I expected,” the man in front of her said.

Bannick Komi. She was surprised he came to meet her personally. And practically alone. The only other person with him was a woman as stunningly beautiful as Bannick was handsome.

She wondered if the woman’s level of evil correlated as well.

“And you’re less decorated than I expected,” she replied. “Men like you tend to sheath themselves in meaningless honors to compensate for the smallness of their acts.”

To his credit, he smiled, no irritation or anger crossed his face.

“I doubt I’m exactly who you think I am,” Bannick said. “I see you have my man, Cothis. I have your friend as well.” Bannick raised a hand and beckoned with two fingers without looking behind himself.

I do not detect any immediate intent to betray you, Alarin informed her.

A bulkhead door opened, and two guards dragged a struggling, and loudly complaining, woman into the room.

It was hard not to grin as Sarah witnessed the fight in her friend.

“Marika,” Sarah said. “It’s me.”

“Sarah?” Marika stopped fighting and secured her boots to the deck, kicking one of her handlers in the process. “Took you long enough.”

“I came as soon as I heard you didn’t like your current accommodations,” Sarah replied.

“Well… thanks, I guess.”

Sarah turned her attention to Bannick. “Release her and you get your man. He has much to tell you about the situation you’re in.”

“Listen to her, Lord Komi,” Cothis said, both fear and venom in his voice. “She is a monster far more dangerous than your father.”

Bannick looked at Cothis for a moment. Sarah kept her eyes on Bannick and was surprised to see a trace of contempt on the Komi leader’s face. Then he gestured to the men behind him once again, and they released Marika, who walked toward Sarah.

Proving to Sarah she was still Marika Sachelle, Sarah’s friend stopped to taunt her former captor one last time. “Thanks for your hospitality. Too bad about those guards, but hey, they weren’t very good at their job, now were they? I did you a favor.”

Bannick didn’t reply. He stared coldly at Sachelle.

“Go to your master, Admiral Cothis,” Sarah said, breaking the silence that threatened her agenda. “He wants to hear your report.” She kept her eyes on Bannick, but behind her she heard the marines release Cothis from his bonds. The Komi Admiral walked past her without looking back.

“Get on the shuttle, Marika,” Sarah ordered. “You’re safe now. The pilot will see to your needs until we can get you back to the fleet for medical attention.”

“This doesn’t look very safe to me,” Sachelle grumbled as she climbed up the shuttle’s boarding ramp. “He could hit us with a missile when we leave, gun us all…” Her voice faded off as she disappeared into the recesses of the shuttlecraft.

Sarah wanted to smile at her friend’s antics but decided that wasn’t the proper emotion to project in this situation.

“What now?” Bannick said. “Are you going to help me with my problems in return for help with yours?”

“I’m open to the possibility,” Sarah replied. “I’d like to be present when you debrief Admiral Cothis in case you have any questions.”

“There is a meeting room adjacent to this bay,” Bannick said. “I chose to meet you here for that reason. You’ll pardon my rudeness if I don’t wish to give you a tour of my vessel.”

“I don’t blame you,” Sarah said. “I have much to keep from you as well.”

“As auspicious of a beginning for allies as I can remember,” Bannick said. “Palia will lead us to the debrief, I will walk with my admiral.”

They followed the now named beautiful woman through the shuttle bay’s bulkhead door, into an austere gangway. The adjacent room, as Bannick had said, was a meeting room. It was the opposite of austere. A wooden table ran along the center of the room, a good five meters. 0G chairs were arrayed around it in an orderly fashion, and a display wall stood at the far end of the room.

“Have a seat where you like,” Bannick said as he moved to the far end of the table where the display controls were situated.

Sarah chose a seat at the other end of the table. Alarin sat to her left, Salphan to her right, and the marines stood behind her, their combat rifles hanging casually at their sides.

The woman sat on Bannick’s right. Cothis on his left.

“As you can see, I’m unarmed,” Bannick said. “Do you really need the armed men in here with us?”

“You are unarmed. I can only imagine the number of soldiers on this ship who are ready to come storming down these halls if you were to wish that. My men stay. If you intend to kill us, the price will be high,” Sarah replied.

“There will be no betrayal, Sarah Dayson, you have my promise,” Bannick said. “You are free to leave, return to your shuttle, and fly away at any time.”

“Not before I hear you debrief Cothis.”

“Admiral Cothis,” Bannick corrected.

“He’s no admiral of mine,” Sarah said. “I will refer to him as I wish.”

Bannick sighed. “You’re hostile. I get it. I had nothing to do with whatever happened on Mindari, such brutish displays are not my normal mode of operation. What I promise you is the opportunity to make the men responsible pay. But you’ll have to get past hating me for a while if you’re going to do that.”

“Debrief Cothis,” Sarah said.

Bannick stared at her a moment, then shook his head before turning to his officer. “Admiral Cothis, you delivered the message as requested, I see. She got all the details?”

“I gave her the data crystal, and told her your message,” the admiral confirmed. “Then she proceeded to show me why you should stick to your word with her.”

“My word is gold,” Bannick said. “That is why I will stick to it.”

“You’re still going to want to see this,” Sarah said. She produced a data crystal much like the one Cothis had brought her. “I used the same system Cothis presented me, assuming you’d be able to read it.”

She tossed the crystal at Bannick, who caught it. He inserted the crystal into the display system for the room, and a series of video recordings played. Cothis’s reaction to their transfer. His reaction at Korvand when told the nebula was a star Sarah had just ordered destroyed. His reaction to the death of Hamor Prime. And the corresponding images to each of those events as they happened.

Bannick was silent for a long time as Hamor collapsed, went supercritical, and then nova.

Finally, he turned back to face Sarah. “I knew I was making the right choice in pursuing peace with you. I don’t know how you do the things you do, but I don’t want you as an enemy.”

“Then convince me I should be otherwise,” Sarah said.

Something is happening on the Sheffaris, Alarin thought to her. Emille is in contact with an alien of the sort we spied when we arrived here.

Are you serious? The ship she said was a creature? Where is it? she asked.

Nearby is all we know. It is seeking an alliance with us against the Hive.

It’s about time things started going my way. Ask Emille to make friends.

Will do, Alarin responded.

Sarah couldn’t help but smile with the satisfaction of knowing today seemed to be entirely going her way. For once, the plan was unfolding as she wished.

“You find our banter entertaining?” Bannick asked.

“No,” she answered. “I’m just amused that we came here into your den, you thought you had the upper hand, but now are about to realize that even if you take action against me, everything you care about will cease to be.”

“What do you mean?” Bannick said. “Are you threatening me?”

“Lord Komi, Admiral Dayson left orders with her XO that if you betray her during this visit, they are to return with an Oasian fleet and destroy every star in the Komi Syndicate,” Cothis said. “And I believe her. I’ve seen her do brutal things.”

“It seems we’re not that different after all,” Bannick said. “You do what you need to do in order to secure your strategic goals.”

“We are different in that I don’t harm innocent bystanders, normally. But it stands to reason that since I believe the main goal is to stop the Hive, if I remove the Komi I have increased the chance that your neighbors will have the military foresight to band together and fight. A new Alliance may well be borne in the ashes of this Syndicate. The conquest of the Hive is more important than any number of Komi citizens.”

“Cold,” Bannick said. “I like it. You’ll be perfect for assassinating my father.” He clasped his hands and smiled. “And I understand your way of thinking. It will make getting along with you easier.”

“There is no need for such destruction. Once we kill your father, you need to simply honor your word to provide me with the ships I want, supply my fleet, then turn the rest of your military capability toward our real enemy.”

“Not unreasonable,” Bannick replied. “But first you must kill my father. It won’t be easy, and if you fail, you and I will both be dead. You blowing up any number of stars will not matter.”

“Nihilistic,” Sarah observed.

“Realistic,” Bannick countered. “We fight to better our position in life. Everything else is just noise, useful tools, or a source of amusement.”

“Not exactly how I see it, but I understand how you think that way. Even if I don’t agree.”

“Then let’s talk about how you’re going to kill Urdoxander.”

Chapter 19 - Khalamanthus

10 Ors 15332

Sarah woke up as the shuttle clanged against the Sheffaris’s docking collar.

Salphan smiled at her. “We’re home.”

She hugged him after she stood up. “I’m glad you think of this as home.”

“Where you are is where home is.”

She grabbed his hand and led him toward the lock. Kuo waited on the other side, she handed a bag through to him. “See, XO, once again I was right. You should keep a log.”

The two medics waited on the other side of Kuo to examine Sachelle, but she couldn’t pay them much attention thanks to Kuo’s frown. He clearly didn’t like her making light of his concerns. “My protest stands. It was risky and if we repeat that moment, I’d advise against you going to meet the enemy again.”

“Tell me about this Khala on our way to the bridge,” she said.

She heard Salphan lock to the deck behind her, still exclaiming his joy with his magnetic boots after using them for months, and Marika complaining to the medics about something immaterial that was bothering her. All was right with her friends, and really, her family.

“It’s like the alien ship we registered on our sensors when we got here, the one in the battle we followed. This one is a lot smaller from the visual images we’ve gathered. We’d never have seen it if it hadn’t contacted us, it’s practically melded to the comet it’s on.”

“What does it want?” she asked. “You mentioned an alliance against the Hive, but what is in it for the alien? Does it have a civilization on the far side of Hive space that it’s protecting? Hozz mentioned the Hive diverted their fleets. That would somewhat support that theory.” She grabbed the bag from Kuo and tossed it in her quarters as they walked by.

As they entered the bridge, Kuo answered her. “We have no idea what it wants. It found out you were our ‘Matriarch’ from conversations with Emille, and now refuses to talk to anyone else other than you or Emille.”

Heinrich grinned and got out of the command gravcouch. “Matriarch on the bridge.”

“Very funny,” Sarah smirked as she moved to the gravcouch and strapped herself in. “Everyone buckle up, we’re moving the ship. There are four bubbles registering on the Palidragon’s sensors, and I want us to show him that we are allies who fight when the chips are on the table.”

“Admiral?” Heinrich said, hesitantly. “We’re one ship.”

“Get Emille to bring the Hyaku into the picture. There should be plenty of adepts on board, and while the ship isn’t ready for direct combat, it can engage in standoff combat with grapplers, G-Ks, and the Oasis fighters.”

“Right away,” Heinrich said. “I’ll talk to her in person.”

“Mister Stornbeck, if you’d be so kind as to open a channel to the alien.”

“Open,” the comm sergeant replied.

“Khalamanthus, I am Admiral Sarah Dayson, ummm… Matriarch of the ship Sheffaris and the ships that serve us. How can I be of service to you?”

“I am Khala. Khalamanthus. Khala. My mate is matriarch of the Obedi. While I am a male, I would speak to you if you would allow it.”

“I will allow it,” Sarah said, looking puzzled toward Kuo.

“You are the Dayson I have heard in the transmissions from the ships moving on your position. They are enemy to you, no?”

“Yes,” Sarah admitted. “They intend to destroy the large fleet assembled here and kill me if they can manage it.”

“Can they manage it?” Khala asked.

“That remains to be seen. If we do not fight wisely, then yes, they can manage it.”

“I wish to form an alliance with the most rational human faction. I am familiar with the adepts now thanks to Emille Sur’batti. They are an untimely and unexpected feature of your clan. I am surprised they have chosen you, a non-adept, as their leader.”

She was sure he meant nothing insulting by that. Maybe among the Obedi the most capable ruled. It was not an unheard-of system. “They are family to us. Our clan if you will. I consider them the greatest asset humanity has.”

“Of course. And they are coming to fight with you in your fragile vessels,” Khala half-observed, half asked.

“They do,” she confirmed.

“The adepts must continue. They are the critical response of this reality consciousness to a non-conscious machine infection. I will fight with you, Matriarch Dayson.”

A lot of what Khala was saying made no sense. But the content seemed to indicate it was friendly enough. “How do I know—” she began.

“Holy Saints of the Pleiades!” Algiss exclaimed. “There is a ship in front of us, Admiral. Mass readings off the charts.”

“Confirmed,” Kuo added.

“I assume that is you, Khala,” Sarah said calmly.

“It is I. I am ready to fight. Prepare yourselves for what is coming.”

“What is coming?” Sarah asked the alien.

“Ships beyond easy counting. Your losses will be high today. But I plan to help you win.”

The ship/alien disappeared from in front of them, to places unknown.

“Take us to battlestations,” Sarah ordered. “Mister Stornbeck, advise the Komi Successor fleet that combat is imminent. Ships beyond easy counting are inbound, as Khala said.”

Kuo set condition one, and Stornbeck advised Bannick’s fleet as ordered.

“The Komi fleet is prepared, Admiral. They have asked if you wish us to nest ourselves into their numbers.”

“No. We will harass the enemy from whatever spot we see gives an opportunity. For now, we stay where we are.”

“Four bubbles were inbound, Admiral,” Kuo reported. “But now there are three, one dropped out early. I’m registering intense combat in a location about one and a half million kilometers distant.”

“Khala,” Sarah replied. “He must have forced them out of highspace somehow. We need to pay close attention and learn the abilities of these Obedi.”

“I’ll watch him,” Kuo offered. “Among my other duties.”

“The other three fleets are dropping out of highspace,” Algiss said. “And Khala was right. The AI is still counting passive returns.”

How many ships does it take to confuse the sensor returns enough to prevent easy counting by an AI? Sarah was about to find out.

Chapter 20 - Admiral’s Personal Log

10 Ors 15332

AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 16:43:01 10 ORS 15332

Personal log entry #1972, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.

Current Location: Deep Space, OSV Sheffaris, Komi System

I’m making this log from the Captain’s gravcouch, as we are about to enter battle.

[A pause as orders are given in the background by an unidentified male voice. Stress levels in the voices detected are high]

Today I have secured a tentative alliance with Bannick Komi. I’m not sure what to expect of him yet, or what I think of him other than he’s probably as dirty as any other Komi leader seems to be.

[Background noise, barked orders, and sounds indicating stations checking in as battle ready]

Oh, and I met an alien. Going into battle with one, in fact.

[A laugh from Admiral Dayson, high stress verbal communication continues in the background]

We’re sort of playing this one by ear. The truth is I can’t bring a lot of capability to this battle, but the ships I can bring, meaning the Sheffaris and the grappler squadrons of the Hyaku are pretty hard hitting. We’re going to have losses and there is nothing to be done about it. I have to secure this alliance, and that means showing this young Lord Komi that I will stand by my word and act like an ally.

[A pause in the recording, thirty-four seconds long]

Where was I? Oh yeah. I will act like an ally. Unfortunately, I have to do all the demonstration on the front end of this agreement, and he does his on the back end. I better get what I want.

[A series of questions from Admiral Dayson to her crew the AI set aside as not part of the log record]

That’s it for now. Whatever happens, I’m proud of this crew. I want that on record.

End the log, Lucy.

Chapter 21 - Hyaku

10 Ors 15332

The massive outline of the Seventh Fleet’s engineering vessel, the Fyurigan, hovered in space while orbiting the planet-sized moon Refuge. Next to it were two ships, the other giants of the Seventh Fleet, the Michael Stennis and the Hyaku-hari. The Stennis was being refitted for the third time in recent memory after suffering massive damage at the hands of the Komi. Well, more accurately because of an inattentive grappler crew that failed to follow mission parameters. But the Komi were the underlying villains.

Captain Baratta, months ago imprisoned at Strike Isle with the rest of his crew, watched as the umbilicals from the Fyurigan detached from his ship and retracted into the engineering vessel.

He was free, as was his crew. Free to extract some price from his former captors. XO until a few weeks ago, he knew this ship like he knew his own heart. And his heart and ship wanted to even a score that ran a deep deficit.

His new XO was Commander Nimalak, a Seventh Fleet original who’d served on the Hinden until that ship was blown into scrap. Formerly a weapons commander, she would do well serving the Hyaku. He looked forward to her input on the coming battle.

“Lateral thrusters away from the Fyurigan. Once our spars clear, main engines forward, point zero-five G,” Baratta ordered. “Let’s not shake up our benefactors, Mister Gussik.”

The navigation chief pushed the power levels on the main engines to a tiny fraction of what they were capable of. “Point zero-five aye,” he replied.

The huge fusion thrusters that powered the vessel rode on spars out from the aft main body of the ship, mainly to keep the rear of the hull clear and able to launch and recover grapplers and G-Ks.

“Comm, send our departure to ground. Our respects to Mayor Jannis,” Baratta said. “And our gratitude to the Fyurigan crew.”

“Aye, sir.”

Formalities taken care of, he relaxed back into his gravcouch. “Mister Gussik, are we well clear of our benefactor?”

“Well clear, sir.”

“Sensors are clear ahead?” he asked.

“Sensors clear,” Nimalak confirmed.

He activated the PA. “All crew to gravcouches. All crew to gravcouches. Hard thrust in one minute.”

The minute passed painfully slow, finally the chronometer ticked over.

“Maximum thrust, Mister Gussick. We don’t get much of a shakedown before deploying, but let’s at least test the engines.”

G forces slammed him back into the couch. The powerful fusion torches lancing out behind the vessel pushed it forward with a force just over six gravities.

“Without reducing thrust, align us to the Komi system and prepare our first transfer point, Mister Gussik. Once we are speed matched to our destination, reduce thrust to zero.”

“Wilco, Captain.”

“Commander Nimalak, run a weapons drill.”

“Aye, sir,” she said, grinning. “Good timing for that.”

He was going to like her.

Less certain in that regard were the two hundred or so adepts that the ship carried with it. Forty-eight for the grapplers, another eighty for Oasis fighters. The rest were battle trained soldiers that would give the Komi a serious surprise if they were deployed into combat or boarding parties.

Until a short while earlier he had no idea such capabilities as the adepts wielded even existed. But now he was going to rely on them. Professionally, he’d withhold judgment because his superiors, Admiral Dayson and Fleet Captain Heinrich, had vouched for them and were demanding the Hyaku deliver his fleet of small combat vessels into their current dustup.

Which he would gladly do.

He just hoped these adepts performed as their reputations suggested.

At a personal level, he was skeptical. He’d seen them do some small things, certainly, but nothing like moving the carrier he commanded across twenty thousand light-years.

“We’re ready to transfer,” Gussick said.

“Have you done this before, Commander Nimalak?” he asked.

“I have, sir. Once, on the Stennis during the Andromeda mission. It was something one needs to see to believe, so I understand how you’re feeling.”

“I am having difficulty with belief,” he admitted. “Please make the transfer as you have seen it done.”

Nimalak nodded. “Mister Gussick, coordinate with our adepts and transfer the ship.”

“Aye, sir.”

Seconds later the galaxy changed. He could see it still, but less of it and in more detail on the main screen. Vague clouds of luminance had resolved into stars, and he could see nebula that were mere blurs moments ago.

There was his proof.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Mister Gussick, coordinate with Master Adept Kiron Mozaine until we are on location at Komi. No delays on that arrival, unless needed by the adepts.”

Gussick smiled at him. “Certainly Captain. According to Kiron we’ll be there inside of an hour.”

“One name?” Baratta asked. “You friends with him, Gussick? I thought two names were more proper.”

“I took him drinking two nights ago in Jerna, sir. We shuttled up to the ship after, and so a friendship was born.”

Nimalak laughed. “I saw them come on board, Captain. Trust me, they’re friends.”

“Very well. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t misunderstand the custom. The last thing I want to do is offend our ride home.” Baratta said, dead serious. “Why is it always the navigators that are the wild ones?”

“Isn’t Admiral Dayson a former navigator?” Gussick asked.

“Aye, she is,” Nimalak replied. “And now that I think about it, so is Fleet Captain Heinrich.”

“Galaxies help us,” Baratta said as his crew laughed.

It was a good start to their first mission together.

Chapter 22 - Battle Most Glorious

10 Ors 15332

Bannick, Palia, and Admiral Cothis walked slowly toward the bridge, taking their time and discussing the strategic situation as it unfolded for them.

“Sensors report Admiral Dayson has returned to her ship. Even their shuttles have that jumping technology the Oasians use,” Palia reported, listening to her ear piece. “We need to get that.”

“Spoken like a future empress,” Bannick said.

“That’s news,” Cothis said, noticing the closeness between the couple walking with him. “Congratulations, Lord Komi, Lady Palia.”

“Admiral, you’re to take command of the fleet. You performed perfectly in bringing Sarah Dayson to me. Captain Miko has been running things well, but you’re better. Take charge, prepare a battle plan. You have minutes to do so.”

The admiral saluted him. “At your command, Lord Komi. I, and House Cothis, will serve.”

Bannick waved the man toward a lift, urging him to the bridge. Cothis looked relieved to be on the good side of Bannick and put back in charge. There was little doubt about his loyalty, and that alone was worth something. Cothis was also quite competent at ship combat.

“What do you think of what he said?” Palia asked. “About the Oasians having the power to destroy stars?”

“I don’t know what I think, yet. I believe Cothis believes it, certainly. Was he duped? I wasn’t there to ascertain that.” Bannick stopped her and slipped his arms around her waist. “I want you to go to the hangars and get a scout ship on its way to Hamor. Only then will we know.”

“It’s a reasonable way to know,” Palia remarked. “Cothis won’t wonder if you question his sanity, and Sarah Dayson won’t know you’re questioning her word. She seems sensitive about that.”

“She seemed angry, if you ask me. As if she’s been carrying a burden far too long and it’s someone else’s turn.”

“Does that bother you?” Palia laughed. “You liked her.”

“She’s likable. Something inside her demeanor was strong. The galaxy needs more of that.”

“I’m off to the scout hangars. I’ll return to our quarters after, unless you want me somewhere else,” she said, kissing his cheek.

“No. Our quarters will be safest during the coming battle. I’ll be on the bridge and return to you when it’s over.”

“Will we win?”

“Father sent enough ships to kill our fleet. I don’t know what Admiral Dayson is planning, maybe she can turn the tide. We’ll see. If it comes down to our lives, I’ll order the retreat.”

She nodded. “Then I’ll see you after. If not, I’m glad I came with you.”

“And not purely because everyone on Mindari is dead now?” Bannick raised an eyebrow at his promised. “Not that I should find their deaths amusing. Our new ally would certainly be offended by that.”

“You’re hard to read. I don’t know if you intend to honor your deal with her or not,” Palia said. “I’ve never seen you lie, but—”

“— I am cold and practical, except with you. I have no intention of lying, but the fact is alliances shift all the time. If she becomes a burden beyond our agreement, our new friendship may be for naught.”

“Makes sense.” She gestured at the ship around them. “Think of me when the hits start coming. Your father isn’t known for his lack of commitment when he gets a task in his mind.”

“You know I will,” Bannick assured her.

He watched her go. She was graceful even in 0G as each of her feet stuck to the mesh deck. Somehow, she made her movements look not only good, but natural.

When she was gone, he moved to the same lift Cothis had used. Moments later he was on the bridge.

“Status?” he asked.

Admiral Cothis was at the helm station, speaking to the navigators. Captain Miko filled him in. “Admiral Dayson has called in an ally, Lord Komi. A ship of unknown design, the size of a heavy destroyer but registering much higher in mass.”

“Does it have markings?” Bannick asked.

“No, just strange shifting patterns of light on the hull. Our analysis AIs are working on it, but no results yet.”

“Where is this new ship now?”

“It left a short time ago. One of the fleets enroute to our position has dropped out of highspace and is currently engaged in nuclear combat,” Miko reported.

“Are you suggesting that one heavy destroyer engaged a fleet of father’s ships, took them out of highspace somehow, and they felt the need to engage this ship with nuclear weapons instead of massacring it in a hailstorm of railgun rounds?”

“I’m not suggesting it, Lord Komi. I’m stating it.”

Bannick laughed. “You are a bold one, Miko.”

“I fight for your cause,” Miko replied. “One has to be bold considering the odds we face.”

“Agreed,” Bannick said, slapping the captain on the shoulder. “I’ll take my seat and let you do what you do so well. Run my ship.”

Miko nodded his understanding at Bannick, then turned away. “Admiral Cothis, I’d like to bring the fleet to battlestations.”

The next few moments were a haze as reports came in from the combat the Oasian ship was engaged in. One hundred and twelve ships were yanked out of highspace by the Oasian vessel and judging by the sensor returns indicating an expanding cloud of debris, the one ship was winning.

It was starting to look much more as if Bannick should ensure the alliance with Sarah Dayson held. Breaking it would have a very high cost. Still, the question had to be asked. If the Oasians had ships like the one decimating his father’s fleet, why do they need ships from Bannick?

It was a mystery. Any ship they’d get from the Komi would be nothing to them… unless that wasn’t their ship. Maybe the Oasians had another ally that was fighting with them?

If so Bannick needed to make that faction his ally as well. Everything was a competition, and that included the strength of one’s friends.

“What a glorious day,” he whispered contentedly as the other three fleets dropped out of highspace a few hundred thousand kilometers away. Rinou’s super-dreadnought, Extensor, was among them.

Bannick scowled. “And a good day to clean up the family gene pool.”

Chapter 23 - Reluctance

Khala phased away from Sarah Dayson’s ship, and into highspace. There he looked toward the incoming fleets, picking the largest in number. A chimindik later he was colliding with the vessel that carried the FTL system for that fleet.

The ship shredded as Khala’s body pierced it longways, he was careful to avoid the spinning singularity as the ship suffered a catastrophic failure and ejected the black hole away from the vessel. While the bubble of highspace wouldn’t last long now that the singularity was out of confinement, it lasted long enough that the ships on the other side of the bubble came into contact with the edge.

A regrettable loss of life that was unavoidable.

Khala watched several ships die, strung over a few dozen koplai as the edge of the bubble shredded them at an atomic level.

Then highspace faded away and realspace was once more around the fleet.

He phased to them, firing up his newly discovered method of communication, the tight beam laser.

“I do not fight you as a wish. I am Khalamanthus. Khala. I am Khala. Mate of the Obedi Matriarch. Enemies we are not a reason.”

The ships were in a jumble spread over thirty or forty koplai, it would take hours for them to reassemble into a functional unit. Despite that, the nearest ships engaged him without responding to his hail.

He could feel the impacts of their railguns, but there wasn’t any effect. He knew from Sylange’s memories what was coming next. His energy stores were low as Sylange had warned him, but the nuclear weapons of the organics would recharge him.

The first impact was small, but it still drove him some distance from the point of detonation. He phased to the ship that had fired the missile and ripped it apart. The passengers died almost instantly, exposed to the harsh vacuum around them.

“I do not will to fight any more as my wish,” he restated to every ship that was within range.

They stopped shooting at him. Then he noticed the laser links between them. Maybe they were discussing his superiority and would stop fighting now.

Missiles ejected from several of the ships at once, a few of them with quite large payload packages. Several ships launched dozens of the things. That many missiles might overload even his ability to store energy, so he phased away, only to return moments later directly in the path of the largest ship in the remaining fleet. It looked, in fact, exactly like the one that Sarah Dayson had visited when he’d first arrived.

His impact with the vessel took a long time, due to its size and the slowing effect so much matter had on his own velocity. The decks, girders, and life containment systems ruptured like the fragile bodies of the organics themselves. As the ship passed around him, it broke open as if it was spreading sensory appendages to collect data. But this wasn’t a productive thing. It was pure destruction. Deck plates shrieked, then ejected into space, torn from the main structure. A massive central support spar buckled over his body, the material melting with the energy of the impact. Sections of the ship exploded violently, further ripping the debris apart and spreading it widely.

Finally, he reached what must be fuel tanks, and the shock of his impact ruptured them. Fuel spilled into space, creating a cloud of expanding volatiles that soaked his body with liquid even as it sprayed into mist, then as it lost heat, icy globs.

He phased a short distance away then lanced a tight beam of infrared radiation across the fuel cloud. It detonated where his beam struck it, the explosion driving the ship’s debris even further from the impact site. He rested, motionless, and watched as the shredded material raced away in an expanding cone.

Still the missiles came. He phased, dodged, ripped ships apart by impact, disassembled them with his arms, and a few times to shed excess energy he fried them with infrared radiation. Those ships melted into spray that lit up like the carapaces of his loved ones until the metals cooled into new shapes and disappeared into the darkness.

He’d hoped to have time to stop all four fleets. Instead, he’d only stopped this one. The others were out of highspace and closing rapidly on the ships of his new friends.

Sad colors flashed across his carapace. This isn’t what he’d intended to do in order to secure an alliance with an organic faction.

But it was what he had to do now.

He phased back toward the main battle, into a conflict that was just starting as he arrived.

Chapter 24 - Arrival and Engagement

10 Ors 15332

“Tactical?” Sarah requested.

“The Komi fleets have fully engaged. Losses are coming quick for Bannick’s side. They’re outnumbered roughly two to one, it’s a bit worse than that,” Kuo reported.

“Status of the Hyaku?” she asked.

“On station, about twenty AU out. Attack ship launches are one fourth complete,”

“Order Baratta to send what he has now, and each successive squad of four into combat as they are launched,” Sarah said. She tapped her mic. “Emille, be prepared. You’re going to be taxed in a moment.”

“Wilco,” Stornbeck said as Emille/Alarin replied: “We are ready.”

“The grapplers are showing up, Admiral,” Kuo reported.

“Update the tactical, prepare to take the Sheffaris into the fray,” Sarah ordered. “I want one of those super-dreadnoughts to taste our missiles.”

“Admiral, you’re being hailed,” Stornbeck said.

“On screen.”

Bannick appeared on the main display. “Admiral Dayson. Am I missing something—” the screen shook as Bannick’s ship took a hit, “— or do I not see your people in the combat?”

“They should be showing up now, Bannick. Preparation took a moment, and we had to call in support from some distance.”

The Palidragon took another hard hit, and a voice in the background sounded stressed as she gave a tactical report. “Captain, there are about three dozen small ships that just appeared on the screen. They’re blinking in and out like—”

She was cut off as another hit shook Bannick’s dreadnought.

“As you can see,” Sarah said, “we have arrived.”

Bannick nodded and disconnected.

“I have our target,” Algiss said. “It might take a few missiles to bring it down, depending on where we hit it. That thing is over ten kilometers long.”

“Take us in,” Sarah ordered. “ECM to maximum, ECCM as needed.”

The Sheffaris shifted and moments later a ship blotted out the stars as it appeared in front of her.

“I’m bursting friend/foe ID’s to Bannick’s fleet and ours,” Kuo said. “To minimize Bannick’s crews firing on our ships, mainly. I think our grapplers may still get some friendly fire as this mixes up.”

“Fire on that dreadnought,” Sarah ordered as she filed Kuo’s report away mentally. “Now, Mister Algiss, eight birds. I don’t think it even sees us yet.”

The Sheffaris dove around the huge ship in a tight arc, but not so close they’d be heavily affected by the antimatter missiles. As they passed behind two of the eight missiles headed toward the ship’s huge engine nacelles. The rest spread out along the body of the vessel, a tactic to distribute damage to all systems.

“Take us into the shadow of the vessel, Mister Algiss, relative to those impacts. If we wind up fusing the target’s fuel the explosion will be substantially larger than our radiation shielding will protect us from.”

The missiles closed on tactical, from the rear, the one direction the dreadnought had little protection of its own. Nearby escorts were firing on the Sheffaris’s strike package, but it was too late. The missiles were already closing faster on the enemy than the railgun ammo chasing them could move.

“We’ve transferred into the shadow,” Algiss reported. “It was the only way to get there in time. I don’t know—”

The ship was rocked by a shockwave, Sarah’s gravcouch locked onto her and held her still as the Sheffaris rolled violently. Radiation alarms were going off, as well as stress indicators for hull structure.

“The Abyssal of Kaoxan!” Algiss exclaimed.

Sarah was really going to have to ask him about his recent flavorful additions to the bridge crew lexicon.

“Damage control,” Kuo yelled.

Heinrich’s voice was as calm as if she were buying groceries. “Minor damage, all three decks. One minor hull leak, and you should probably remind the Admiral that we have antimatter containment to think of. She shakes those missile payloads much harder than that and it’s all over. We don’t want to lose power to an EMP pulse, either.”

“I heard her,” Sarah said. “She’s right. Put the dreadnought on screen.”

The external cameras rolled to the enemy ship, which burned furiously. The back end was mostly missing, as was the habitation ring structure. Except for the forward third, maybe, there would be no survivors. Every porthole, every open shuttle bay burned with furious brilliance.

“Administering anti-rad nanites,” an AI advised her through her earpiece.

“The escorts are targeting us,” Algiss reported as a lock tone shared the same information.

“Transfer us to our next target,” Sarah ordered. “We’ll use fewer missiles next time.”

“Forty-two shots remaining,” Algiss told her.

The ship moved once again, and a battlecruiser immediately began targeting them with its missile defense railguns. A string of the ten-gram projectiles slashed across their reinforced front armor.

BRAAAAP!

Fortunately, the ten-gram projectiles normally used in missile defense didn’t do massive damage, even at their speed of impact. But there would still be significant divots where each round struck.

“Grappler engines to 6Gs, full evasive,” Sarah ordered. “This next target is a battlecruiser, gang, they’re going to have good defenses. We can’t stay long, but our missiles won’t get through if we shoot from too far. Eight birds again, Mister Algiss, for surety.”

“I have lock. Target is fourteen hundred kilometers.”

“Fire at one thousand,” she ordered.

“We might be dead at one thousand,” Kuo said.

He was as calm as Heinrich now. Inez was a good influence on him. Sarah was glad she pushed Kuo to pursue that relationship.

“Then we’ll be dead,” Sarah said. “We’re mo-” the Sheffaris jinked hard as the grappling motors shrieked while tearing at the quantum fabric of space, “we’re moving too hard and unpredictably for them to target us easily.”

As Sarah spoke four Oasis fighters flashed past them, their railguns blazing as they hit the battlecruiser. Brilliant but tiny explosions on the hull indicated solid hits not long after, although one of the Oasis fighters flared into an expanding cloud of debris.

“Change of plans, Mister Algiss. Don’t delay firing our missiles. Give this enemy more targets to worry about. Fire now.” Sarah grimaced as another of the Oasis fighters exploded. Seconds later massive anti-ship rounds from one of Bannick’s ships slammed into the battlecruiser, exploding like small atomic bombs. The cruiser immediately began turning to bring its heaviest armor to face the new direction of fire.

“They’re well trained,” Kuo observed. “The Komi, I mean. On both sides of this fight.”

“Firing,” Algiss replied. “Missiles away, Admiral.”

“The Hyaku reports all attack craft launched, Admiral. They want to know if you wish the carrier to engage,” Stornbeck asked.

“Negative. If I see them in the fight, I’ll have Baratta scrubbing carbon off thruster nozzles.”

Stornbeck grinned. “I’ll let them know.”

BRAAAP!

Another string of projectiles laced across the hull. This time from an escort ship some distance away. A lucky shot, or an unlucky jink by the Sheffaris.

“Engine three is shutting down,” Kuo reported. “That leaves the two grappler engines and two main fusion thrusters. Max thrust is now twelve Gs in normal flight.” He studied his sensor display a moment, then flipped an image to the tactical screen. “And we have a tail.”

On tactical a gun frigate was displayed behind them, trying to jink with every move of the Sheffaris. Orange streaks of railgun fire lanced out from it in their direction.

Sarah nodded, but didn’t answer Kuo otherwise. She was staring at the weapons display as the missiles closed on the battlecruiser. Brilliant explosions flared as individual missiles detonated after being struck by defensive fire from the cruiser, but in space and at the ranges they were from the target, no damage resulted. Three of eight remained.

Two.

Impact.

Both struck the battlecruiser amidships; the flash was bright enough the view screen temporarily dimmed to compensate. The Sheffaris, manually controlled by Algiss, rolled and dove away, preparing to transfer yet again.

Their tail followed.

BRAAP!

Another string of railgun rounds crossed the Sheffaris’s path at just the right time, this time damaging a grappler track.

The ship lurched sideways, and both grappler engines cut out as their combined thrust was now off balance.

Main thrusters were all she had left, and only two of those.

They needed to leave.

Sarah looked at the visual of the cruiser, it was in two parts and burning much like the dreadnought had done, but across the entire ship.

“I could have used that ship, and that capable crew,” she said as a last respect for the crew that had struggled so hard to survive.

Satisfied with the performance of her crew and vessel in battle and convinced that to stay any longer would be suicide, she opened her mouth to order her ship to retreat. As she did alarms went off at the damage control station, another fusion engine was offline.

She was interrupted by a call from Heinrich in engineering.

Heinrich sounded alarmed, which worried Sarah immensely. “Admiral, we took a hit from the back side. Engine three is run clean through, and we’re leaking a bit of everything a bit of everywhere. I had to shut down engine one, and I have two dead down here from shrapnel.”

Inez’s voice sounded masked; she must be wearing a breather.

“Can you fix it?” Sarah asked.

“The Fyurigan can fix it. I’m just patching it with tape and foam. We probably have a few hours of engine operation before the plumbing on number two gives out.”

“Understood,” Sarah said, pushing calm into her response. “We’ll pull out of combat and see to the damage without more shots coming our way.”

“I advise we keep the bulkhead doors closed,” Heinrich said. “The air down here is pretty toxic. We might need to vent engineering. There are eight survivors in here, we’re going to need some vacuum suits.”

Of all the bad… more dead on my ship.

That was random chance, no fault of yours, Salphan said. Bad luck.

“We’re retreating to a safe spot, Inez, hang in there,” Sarah replied to Heinrich.

She glanced at Kuo. He looked worried, although when he saw her looking, he wiped the emotion from his face. As soon as the retreat was complete, she’d send him to assist with the engineering problems, but for the moment she needed him here.

“Take us out of here, Mister Algiss,” she ordered. “To the Hyaku. We need to survey our damage. Let our grapplers have their kills, and there is no way Bannick can say this ship didn’t do its share.”

“Transferring,” Algiss reported.

The Hyaku appeared before her, and she felt the sense of relief nearby help provided.

“Use some of that remaining engine time to match speeds with the carrier, Mister Algiss,” she ordered.

She realized she was shaking even as the gravcouch tried to hold her still.

It had been many years since she’d faced direct fire in a small ship.

She’d forgotten how terrifying it could be.

Chapter 25 - Allies

10 Ors 15332

“That’s Admiral Dayson’s ship again,” Miko informed Bannick. “She’s right in the thick of it, you have to give her credit for that.”

“I give her full credit. She’s upholding her end of our deal at this point. If she can get my father, she’s met my expectations and more.”

“The destruction of your brother’s ship has leveled the odds slightly,” Miko said, “but it’s still going to be a close call. We have larger ships overall, but they have many more. Even with Dayson’s grapplers… and whatever those other ships are. They look like atmospheric fighters.”

“They may well be. When you can appear and disappear at will, the complexities of a modern spacecraft aren’t as important,” Bannick added. “I really want that drive system.”

“Me too, Lord Komi,” Miko added. “We’d be unstoppable.”

The battle raged for some time. The sensor crew was overwhelmed trying to track and identify all of Dayson’s ships so as not to shoot them. Their unwillingness to remain in one location made that more difficult.

Another anti-ship round struck the Palidragon. He hated each one. This ship was the second greatest love of his life.

“The home system battlecruiser Velox just exploded,” the sensor officer reported to Miko. “Dayson’s doing, sir.”

“Where’s she going next?” the Captain asked.

“Debris indicates her ship was hit,” the officer said. “She’s vanished, and not reappeared.”

“And her grapplers?” Bannick demanded to know.

“Still fighting, Lord Komi.”

That was a relief. Those grapplers, with their ability to move as they did, had already killed more of the enemy fleet than Bannick’s own ship had. Despite the aid, his losses were staggering. Fully one half of his cruisers were gone, some utterly destroyed, some so crippled as to be out of the battle. Andina’s fleet wasn’t faring much better, and her dreadnought was even more damaged than the Palidragon.

Whatever the outcome of this battle, if they survived, both he and Andina would need to retreat to a shipyard for repairs. Fortunately, he had a place for just such an occasion, because he never trusted his father not to turn on him at some point.

“Sir, the ship we saw conversing with Sarah Dayson before it intercepted one of the enemy fleets is back,” Miko reported. “It’s destroying the enemy cruisers almost as fast as we can tally them… and two of our ships.”

“Well, that is interesting,” Bannick said, studying the blurry images of the mysterious friendly ship. “Have all vessels transmit the same friend or foe code that Dayson’s vessels are using.”

“At your command, Lord Komi.”

Whatever the faction that owned that vessel, Dayson or some other unknown force, Bannick needed to make sure they remained friendly.

His ship shuddered again from another impact.

“Status?” Miko asked the damage control officer.

“Engines at forty-two percent,” the woman reported. “We’re losing fuel as well, Captain. The armor in the fuel storage area is riddled with holes.”

“We don’t want to take a strike in an exposed fuel tank,” Miko said. He stroked his short beard and glanced at Bannick. “Pilots, adjust the aspect of the ship to put fresh armor toward the enemy.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Bannick had to ask. “Admiral Cothis, is it your professional opinion we should retreat?”

“It’s my professional opinion we shouldn’t have engaged such superior numbers, Lord Komi, but other factors are at stake here. We can’t sustain a fleet like this without our home ports. And if we run, we will have no home.”

Bannick nodded. “Well said, although I’m not certain what you say is entirely correct. Dayson will aid us because she wants access to ships. Retreat if that is your call.”

“Sound the retreat to the fleet,” Cothis ordered. “All ships align with the Palidragon for FTL jump. Spin up the singularity.”

Bannick sighed. He hadn’t even made it close to Komi IV.

“The enemy fleet is retreating,” sensors announced. “The unknown ship that is ramming them is too much.”

“Really?” Bannick commented, straightening up with renewed interest. “Do they still have FTL ships?”

“Yes, Lord Komi. The unknown friendly seems to be avoiding them. He’s skipped over two when selecting targets.”

“Interesting…” Bannick observed. He turned to Miko. “Let our enemy retreat. I have no desire to push them into desperation. They might turn and bring more damage our way. The unknown friendly seems to think the same, by appearances.”

Miko began a slurry of orders. “Stand down the singularity. Weapons, cease offensive fire. Prepare emergency damage control for the ships we can save, including our own.”

Several stations acknowledged, and the ship burst into a new phase of activity. Putting out fires, patching leaks, emergency wiring, and transferring crew to medbay or the morgue as appropriate.

“Any sign of Admiral Dayson?” Bannick asked the sensor officer.

“No, sir, but her grapplers are still pursuing the enemy ships.”

“And the unknown friendly?”

“Gone, sir. It has broken off its attack.”

More evidence that the ship was not Oasian, but an Oasian ally.

Interesting.

Chapter 26 - Unfortunate Events

Khala exited the last cloud of debris, stunned by the level of devastation around him. He’d not been part of the cleaning of many universes, but those he’d been part of didn’t have anything as violent as humanity was to itself.

The machines must be incredibly resilient and pervasive if they were defeating these organics.

The humans, despite their limited and fragile lifespans, embraced the concept of death seemingly almost as a friend. Every other intelligent creature Khala had met considered death the sad result of entropy. A fate to be forestalled, not rushed madly into.

Around him bodies floated in space amid the steel, plastic, and volatile gasses. In their moment of death, Khala sensed their quantum energies falling into dissolution, and back to the baseline level of the universe around them.

More alarmingly, he realized how fully he was pulled into the human frenzy. How quickly he’d embraced the conflict between the sides the adept Emille had told him were manifestations of good and evil.

What a fractious and confusing thing humanity was.

His presence, however, had turned the tide in favor of the humans the adepts fought with, which meant that Khala had chosen right. No conscious universe would allow hostile beings access to the building blocks of creation. The faction Khala now sided with was that which stood against the Hive, as they called the machines. It was a good name, once Khala had accessed the meaning.

While the machines did have some autonomy, they were in general one mind, with one goal.

Eradicate their creators to secure the machines as the only existing power.

Unfortunately, if successful, that would not be the result the machines obtained. The humans were the only chance this universe had to reach fruition, and to spawn into eternity. It was the ageless path every universe followed, including the long since faded home of the Obedi. Only organics could possess the consciousness that provided stability at a quantum level through the mere act of observation. Something consistent across all realities and the oververse itself.

He needed to find the Dayson human and secure an alliance between his people and hers. With the machines possessing the ability to kill Obedi, his clan needed every advantage they could get. After Shosgawa’s dying wish, there was no possibility Sylange would abandon this reality to find another.

Maybe the humans would give a fighting edge to the Obedi, with the knowledge and focus needed to kill the Hive and save this place.

Sensor appendages extended and threaded, Khala searched for the human adepts. They would be where Dayson was, and their presence was easily detectable by someone as sensitive as Khala was to consciousness.

There. Out beyond all the planets of this system, in a section of space far from any battle.

Khala sensed concern, a twinge of fear. Death, which the humans embraced on one level, was something they feared when they had time to think about it in a non-violent setting.

Interesting. It was almost as if they set their awareness of their own mortality aside to engage in their conflicts.

He phased to his potential allies.

Two large ships were present, the ship he’d encountered before, and now another ship that was even larger than him. It was circled by many tens of the smaller ships he’d seen in combat. Those small vessels were the killers with the adepts on board, phasing from place to place.

He felt a bit of revulsion thinking back once again to the battle that just happened, and the thousands of beings that had lost their lives.

He needed to set such feelings aside. Only the end of the machine entities mattered in the greater picture.

Reaching out to the smaller of the two ships that he knew to be Dayson’s, he connected and initiated conversation.

“I am Khala. I am.”

“Khala, this is the Sheffaris, I’m Sergeant Stornbeck, I was told to expect your communication. Admiral Dayson is off the bridge seeing to the damage we’ve sustained.”

“You have fatalities? The dead?”

“Yes, sadly.”

“It is a hard time we Obedi have. Understanding death as humans do. You are cavalier, you have no continuation regard or intent,” he said. “Casual life loss.”

Silence followed, and for long enough he knew he’d breeched a point of etiquette.

“I’m sor—” he began.

“It’s not casual,” Sergeant Stornbeck finally answered, interrupting him. “Dying for a cause greater than ourselves is, to us, a mark of personal integrity as well as a way to permanently give our time as living beings value. We are fighting the Hive, and because the Komi leadership is standing in our way, we fight the Komi leadership as well. The cause is greater than any one of us, and if the resolution is the end of the Hive, any or all of our lives is a worthy price.”

It was Khala’s turn to be silent as he considered the words of this individual human he’d just met. “Impressive, Sergeant Stornbeck. Your species. Matriarch Shosgawa did not say why. Why? Why was so adamant that we save you, and was correct.”

“We are resilient, Khala, and we will win this fight. It is something we must believe to make it worth dying for.”

“I understand,” he offered, although he wasn’t sure yet that they’d win the fight against the Komi leadership, let alone the Hive. It was enough that Sergeant Stornbeck believed it, because the conflict could not be avoided. She might as well think her victory to be inevitable, even if it wasn’t.

“Admiral Dayson will speak to you now, sir.”

“Khala, this is Sarah Dayson. Call me Sarah.”

“Sarah, I am Khala. Khalamanthus. It is honor as the matriarch of faction adept that I speak to you.”

The human’s voice sounded… well, delighted to speak to him. While he understood the general concept of that emotional response, he didn’t understand why his words resulted in that response.

“The honor is mine,” Sarah said. “I have never met an alien before, Khala. This is a monumental moment for my species. We thought ourselves alone in the universe.”

“This Universe. Not my parent,” he told her. “Your species, as is the case in all universes, is sole conscious species. To arise here.”

“What?!” she exclaimed.

He was guessing the rise in volume and tone of her voice indicated she was surprised by his revelation.

“Infinite universes. Each that is able within physics gives rise to a single consciousness. Caretaker species. Those universes that are unable to do so because physical properties become unstable after several billion years, and dissolve back into the oververse as a failure.”

“You’re serious?”

“Would I not be?” he asked. “Do I not seem?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know your ways yet.”

“I am serious. A meeting to arrange. A meeting. Matriarch to Matriarch, between you and my mate.”

“She is your leader?”

“She leads all Obedi. Ascend to throne of Matriarch with death of mother, Shosgawa. Last leader killed by entities you call Hive.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Sarah said. Her voice seemed halting and hesitant when she added, “I was unaware, judging by your behavior at the battle we were just in, that you could be killed.”

“Not immortal,” Khala assured her. “As mortal as you, but my life no predetermined length for me. It will end when task worth ending it for comes or an accident.”

“Not so different than us, other than we do have a maximum length.”

“Entropy,” Khala observed. “You are subject.”

Sarah exhaled in an audible manner. “You’re telling me.”

“Yes, I am telling you.”

Laughter. Khala sensed the laughter had a strained disposition to it. Was that due to the damage her ship had received in battle? Perplexing. Humans had a depth of emotional communication that he would need to research more. The Obedi were the same but communicated their emotion with carapace lighting. Surely there would be analogues between the emotional states of the two species.

She altered her communication to linguistics once again. “That’s a phrase we use, Khala, ‘You’re telling me’ simply means that I emphatically agree with you.”

“As you should.”

She made a noise he did not recognize, but he continued. “Receptive to a meeting? I take you. You express your emotion regarding loss. My mate’s loss to her. She is larger than me. More intelligent. She may understand phrases better than I do.”

A long pause followed.

“Where would we meet?” Sarah asked.

“In oververse,” Khala replied. “It is customary. Customary to my people have our mates at important events. The adept Emille indicated your mate is an adept. I extend invitation to him, and Emille, as his direct Matriarch, has approved it.”

“Salphan?” she asked. “He’ll be interested to hear Emille’s words. It will be his decision to come or not. But I accept your invite. How do we travel to such a place?”

“Enter small vessel. Fly to me. I will take us.”

Chapter 27 - Admiral’s Personal Log

11 Ors 15332

AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 08:09:23 11 ORS 15332

Personal log entry #1977, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.

Current Location: Deep Space, OSV Sheffaris, Komi System

As we sit here licking our wounds from the battle, I’ve spent much of the last several hours thinking about my options.

Lucy, record the following orders to be given to Captain Hanada Kuo should I not return from my engagement with the entity called Khala.

“I always record your log, Admiral.”

[A sigh]

I mean specifically this part I’m about to share with you are my orders to Captain Kuo in the event of my demise or if I become missing.

“Understood.”

Hanada, if you’re getting this, you’ll get no chance to share your ‘I told you so’ with me. You are Captain of the Sheffaris now, and your orders are to assist Heinrich and continue the fight until the destruction of the Hive is complete. Once back at Refuge, Fleet Captain Heinrich will assume command of the fleet and execute a plan to kill Bannick’s father and secure ships for the cause. You, however, will retain command of this ship until your return to Refuge. You’ll need Heinrich in engineering.

Tell Thea these are my final orders. She is not to interfere with fleet activities. The price is too high. If we don’t stop the Hive within the next few years, we never will.

[A one hundred and nineteen second pause]

I’m going to meet the aliens, to discuss an alliance. I guess that’s all for now.

[A thirty-eight second pause]

End the log, Lucy.

Chapter 28 - Trip Beyond

11 Ors 15332

“This is not safe!” Kuo said, anger in his voice. “Are you trying to kill yourself, sir? Because first you fly to Bannick’s ship, and now you’re going to fly off with this Obedi creature that we just met?”

Sarah stopped packing her travel bag, turned around, and stared at Kuo. “First, Captain, I’m the admiral. You will remember that when speaking to me. Second, Emille has vouched for Khala. That is good enough for me. Third, I will, by the stars in the sky, do whatever I want if I think it’s going to help me destroy the Hive. Do you understand, Captain?”

Kuo snapped to attention. “It is my concern for your wellbeing—”

“If I need you to babysit me, Mister Kuo, I’ll make sure to hand you a pack of diapers. Your advice is most welcome, if delivered respectfully. But all final decisions rest with me.”

He was distraught. She understood that. The man had lost his navy, his planet, and a war with the Komi. But she was giving him a second chance, and although they were friends, she’d only let him push her so far. Turning back to her packing, she hoped her words gave him incentive to cool down. If his passion was directed at something other than keeping her safe, she’d be more upset. But whatever Kuo was, he was her friend first. A ship commander never loses the bond they have with their first XO.

Inside the flap of her bag was a fléchette pistol, which she removed and stowed in her dresser.

When Kuo next spoke, his voice was calm and collected. “Of course, the decision rests with you, Admiral. You are my admiral. But you are also my friend, and you have been for a very long time. I am justified to worry about you.”

She smiled. He was thinking along the same lines she was. “Why, because I’m fragile?” she asked. “I’m no such thing.”

“That is not what I said,” he replied, irritated.

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying you’re rash. You do things that most people wouldn’t consider because those things are madness, and you somehow get away with them. The Teplo maneuver, for example. And your defiance of orders at Lirizam, another example. You stick your face in it, and you come out looking like you just put on your best clothes to go to the philharmonic.”

She grinned while looking down at her pack, careful not to let him see how much his comment amused her. It would just inflame him more.

Erasing the grin, she turned to face him. “Captain Kuo. You are in command of my ship while I’m gone. I’m sure your conservative approach to things will mean it will be here for me when I get back. Bannick’s fleet is on its way here, make sure you keep him pacified until I return. They’ll be a long time doing repairs, but I don’t want him on my ship and I don’t want him meeting the adepts at all, understood?”

“I will keep things under control while you’re gone,” he said. “Bannick will wait until you return. I would as soon kill him as look at him for what happened to the Alliance fleet at Mindari.”

“You will control yourself as well. If I need to give Heinrich the ship, let me know,” she offered. “But she’s a better engineer than you are.”

“I will do what you want done, Admiral. You have my word.” His expression still showed his irritation.

“But you’re pissed at me for leaving right now,” she suggested. “If I don’t return in a week, then you are to take our ships and return to Oasis. If Bannick has a destination, you’re welcome to arrange transport of his ships to that destination if his FTL capabilities are less than stable.”

“With all due respect, Admiral, if you’re not back in a week you’re asking me to consider you lost. In which case any decisions made will be based upon the needs of the Sheffaris and Hyaku in that moment.”

She threw her now packed bag over her shoulders, strapping it in place. “You’re a stubborn man, Hanada. This is a moot point. I will be back, this is just a meeting, I’m not moving in with the Obedi.”

“As you say, Admiral.”

She touched her palm to his cheek. She loved this man for the friend he was. He always put her first. Not to mention he’d saved her life more than once. “You’re a jerk,” she said, and slapped her hand gently against his face a few times. “But I am glad you’re my XO once again. I need to get Salphan. Have my pilot head to the shuttle and get it pre-flighted.”

“Yes sir,” Kuo said, sounding like he realized the argument was over and he’d lost it.

She stepped through the hatch out of her room. Salphan was waiting in the gangway, a pack at his side.

“You’re ready?” she asked.

“Of course I’m ready,” he said as Kuo stepped past them, headed to the bridge. “I’m always ready.”

“So you are,” she agreed. “Let’s go.”

They walked together to the shuttle, climbed in through the docking ring, and strapped into facing seats.

She smiled at him. “We’re going to do something together that nobody has ever done before.”

“And I’m hoping I don’t pee myself,” he replied. “There are only so many new things a person can take in one lifetime.”

“Nonsense. You’re doing great.”

The shuttle detached from the docking collar, and their seats swiveled forward.

“Welcome aboard, Admiral,” the pilot said. “I understand you want me to fly to the Obedi ship?”

“That’s right,” she answered. “Approach him slowly.”

The pilot sighed. Apparently, judging by his face, his nerves were as much on edge as everyone else's. “Here we go.”

Sarah and Salphan were pushed back into their seats at 1G.

“What’s this oververse?” Salphan asked her.

“I expected you to know more than me,” she answered. “I’ve never heard of it before today.”

“Great,” Salphan griped. “I don’t know the first thing about it. I hope they have bathrooms there.”

Sarah laughed, and reached over to squeeze his hand.

“It’s an adventure,” she said. “A chance for us to have a memory nobody else has.”

He nodded. “With you, anything.”

As the minutes passed the shuttle flipped over to decelerate and match Khala’s speed. She heard the pilot talking to someone, and she realized who it was. Khala.

A moment later something from outside grabbed the shuttle.

A moment after that, everything she ever knew, everything she ever wondered, everything she ever aspired to be was changed.

Chapter 29 - The All of Everything

Time does not apply

Blackness.

Sarah wasn’t Sarah anymore, at least not in the sense that she had known herself. But she was true to the values of the Sarah she had known, the Sarah that was now a tiny part of a greater self. That essence, that set of ethics, morals, and beliefs followed her into the blackness.

Something about this place, it expanded consciousness. She remembered every moment of her life, all at once with perfect clarity. She did the math of FTL navigation effortlessly in her head. She understood how small and restraining the human brain was, and that compared to real consciousness, she was but a spark to a star.

Blackness.

It was all around her, and although she thought of it as black, it really wasn’t. What her mind represented as blackness was simply reality that wasn’t resolved yet. She was between the universes, and physical laws here were whatever a consciousness needed them to be.

She apparently needed blackness.

Salphan was with her, she could feel him. Not physically, as if she were holding his hand, but his essence was near, potentially even interwoven with hers, and she sensed that.

He loved her. She could feel it as a warm whisper of confidence, a soft shoulder to lean on, and a trust she knew she’d never have anywhere else again. Because Merik was right. The future was just another part of the wall, and humanity walked along with the tip of one finger gliding across the bricks.

Locked in the feeble organics minds humans were born with, they had almost no sense of the future, and a fading sense of the past.

Salphan was experiencing the same thing as her, and more. He was devoted to her. He’d looked into her being in ways no man before really could, and even as limited as consciousness was encased within a human cranium, he’d seen a larger picture for both of them. He gave her the love she needed, the shoulder she felt now, non-corporeally, and the confidant who she could trust to always say what he thought was right.

She sensed another presence, one that overwhelmed who she was. As before she was a spark to a star, she realized that whatever was here with her now was a galaxy of luminance. It filled her with both awe and dread.

I am Sylange. It is good that we meet here, where I am all I might be, and you are some of what will be at some time in your future.

I am Sarah, she thought to the new voice/not voice talking to her. I understand you wanted to speak to me.

Suddenly, through no effort of her own, Sarah was sitting in a fine chair. A wingback seat, well cushioned, with comfortable fabric beneath a body she’d thought she left behind on the shuttle. The shuttle! Where was the shuttle?

Your conveyance is still in the universe you call home. This is the oververse, where realities such as yours are born, live, and die, Sylange said. The chair you sit in now is one you knew as a child, and it is not real. I have created it simply as an anchor for your mind, a place for you to find comfort in yourself as you experience this new reality.

Sarah looked around. Other than the chair and herself, blackness extended in all directions. Somehow the chair was lit, as was she, but no light shined that she could see. Her feet rested on something flat and solid that she also couldn’t see.

“I will speak with my voice,” she said. “It’s more true to what I am.”

As she finished searching the darkness, she swiveled her gaze back to the front. Two meters away a woman sat in a chair identical to hers. The new person was plain, her features completely unremarkable, yet somehow beautiful. She seemed, for lack of a better term, generic. Lightly tanned skin, short black hair, and no makeup. No skin art. Neither thin nor fat. Her clothing was minimal, similar to the style that was in vogue when Sarah was in college.

One arm rested on the chair, that hand clutched the armrest. The other arm’s elbow lay on the armrest, but the arm was raised, hand in front of her throat, palm down, fingers extended. The woman’s index finger pressed upward gently, touching her chin.

Her posture seemed completely nonthreatening.

“I am Sylange,” the woman said. “I would make you comfortable in my home. This image is an amalgamation of every woman you have ever known.”

“Why am I here?” Sarah asked. “Why could we not conduct negotiations in the Komi System?”

“Khala brought you here to do several things. First is to confirm to you that we come from outside your own universe. Second, we want your consciousness to be expanded to its maximum potential, so that you might make the best decision for your people. Third, you will remember that decision, although you may not remember why you made it when you return home.”

“Where’s Salphan?” Sarah asked, satisfied the Obedi had reasons worth this show of power.

“He is with Khala. This is no matter for males. While it is my understanding that you have no living children, it is the females of both of our species that create the future. As such, we are best suited to tend to that future. You and I will speak, we will make a plan to save your universe from the stability decay that is growing as a result of the machines. What you call the Hive.”

The reference to her dead son, Jac, hurt even more with an expanded soul.

“My species does not look at a matter as a concern for one gender over another,” Sarah said. “What interest does the Obedi have in saving my universe?”

“We, and the other post-cradle societies do everything we can to save universes. From those we nurture through to a complete lifespan, sometimes new oververse beings are born. Diversity is good.”

“I understand. And as a representation of diversity, I’d like Salphan with me. He is my mate.”

Sylange sighed. “You have as unhealthy of an attachment to your male as I have to mine.” Another chair appeared to Sarah’s left with Salphan in it, as well as another to the right of Sylange. A man she didn’t know sat in the other chair.

“Unhealthy attachment?” the unknown man said. “I, Khalamanthus, am the healthiest of things in your existence.”

“You are right, of course,” Sylange said to Khala. Sarah sensed some patronization in her voice. Maybe disparity and some discrimination were simply impossible to erase, due to differences in individuals. She wondered what is was that made the Obedi so female dominant.

The Obedi Matriarch turned to look at Sarah, and for the first time she realized the woman had no whites in her eyes. Something made her shiver at the sight of Sylange’s black orbs. The blackness made the sockets look empty, emphasizing that Sylange was truly alien. “You wished for the males, and so they are here.”

“Hi,” Salphan said, grinning at Sarah.

She furrowed her brows at him. Take this seriously!

His smile vanished, and he nodded subtly.

“I wish to work together to destroy the Hive,” Sarah said. “I have seen the abilities of Khala, are yours even greater?”

“By magnitudes.”

“Slightly,” Khala said immediately after.

Sylange frowned at him. “Your adepts possess the ability to weave or unravel the threads of creation, the material of the oververse itself. With that they have destroyed stars. They have threatened living beings that have done nothing to harm others or bring harm on themselves. We want this destruction to stop.”

“Why?” Sarah asked. “You said yourself that if the Hive is not ended, our universe will destabilize and collapse.”

“As I previously said, when a universe dies a natural heat death the intelligence that is built into the quantum fabric of that universe sometimes continues,” Sylange answered. “That intelligence is sustained by the dominant conscious species, but the other organic creatures also have a minor degree of consciousness and a stabilizing effect on their surroundings. As such, they can keep things developing more smoothly than might otherwise happen. You propose to destroy nearly a quarter of those beings with your solution.”

“What do you mean?” Salphan asked. “Are you talking about animals?”

“She means that when a conscious being observes matter, it hardens into a particular state,” Khala told his counterpart. “That increases stability within a universe. And your universe is particularly large.”

“And animals?”

“Yes, but nonsentients don’t look at the stars,” Khala explained. “Your people do. So the animals, as you call them, only affect local stability.”

“Enough,” Sylange said. “Sarah is the one that must understand the most.”

“Then answer my questions. How do you know what solution I propose?” Sarah asked, pressing her host being given the opportunity. Was Sylange delving into her mind? Would she be able to trust her own decisions that come from this meeting?

“Emille,” Khala said. “Emille, with the speed of a thought, conveyed to me the history of your association with the adepts. We know about Merik, the former Matriarch of the adepts. We know about your conflict with Merik, and indeed all of the adepts at that time. Despite their obvious superiority in ability, you prevailed, and even eventually secured an alliance. It is that alliance that gives us hope your species is worth saving.”

“Of course,” Sarah said. “That makes sense. What would you have us do then? The Hive cannot be allowed to continue.”

“We will come fight with you. Once you have de facto control of the human faction you call the Komi Syndicate, they will be needed for the fight as well. There are other human governments surrounding Hive territories. You will enlist them to the fight in an organized and effective fashion. Millions will die. But trillions will die if you set space itself on fire,” Sylange said.

“How will this help? The Hive control nearly two thousand systems.”

Sylange smiled. “My mate and I, along with our children, can clean a system by ourselves within a reasonable time. Then we move on to another. It is not too late to clean the worlds the Hive occupy. They are not too numerous, and while the Obedi are not numerous by your standards either, we are enough.”

Sarah considered the offer. She had no knowledge of the Obedi, and while Sylange said they could clear the Hive from a system, there wasn’t any proof of that in Sarah’s experience.

A decision was difficult, even with her consciousness expanded by her presence in this ‘oververse’.

“I have no proof that your methods will be effective,” Sarah said.

Sylange shared a set of memories with her. Of flight in space, sensory and manipulation appendages both in realspace and highspace at the same time. One Obedi, using that mechanism, could thread their physical presence into millions of places at once. That is how a family unit could clean an entire system. They ripped the Hive straight out of reality, into highspace to be consumed and destroyed. The Obedi benefited as they gained mass and the collective information stored in the Hive nanites they subsumed.

Well, Salphan said. She showed us. I have no idea why they’d even need us.

Yes, she did. Give me a moment, let me think.

Salphan engaged in small talk with Khala even as he traded thoughts with Sarah. They’re not telling us something.

I agree. But I think they’re telling us enough. They are willing to fight.

Finally, after considering all factors, she decided.

“We will work together, Sylange. As long as I see the results you have showed me that only the Obedi can provide, we will do things your way. But the moment your plan falters, or you’re unable to clear the Hive from the space they occupy, I will go back to my method.”

“Your method damages the future,” Khala said.

“These are times that require me to be more concerned with the now than the future,” Sarah responded.

Salphan smiled, nodding his head in agreement.

“Shortsighted,” Sylange said, smiling a sympathetic smile, “but for now it will have to do. We will prove to you within the confines of your reality that we are capable of all we say.”

“Then we are in agreement?” Sarah asked. She was but a child to this being, but it was Sarah who held the power of decision.

Sylange stood, walking on the emptiness to stand in front of Sarah’s chair. The alien extended her hand. “Matriarch to Matriarch. We are in agreement.”

Sarah took the hand, and Sylange pulled her up into an embrace. As they closed into contact, the reality Sarah knew changed once more. Time became meaningless, and a thousand details of Sylange’s plan were discussed to completion.

Sarah’s mind felt vast, and as fast as lightning. She contemplated the costs of failure and renewed her resolve that she would save her people. Because she wasn’t just saving their today. She was saving their tomorrows as well.

A tenuous and conditional alliance was formed at the end of the meeting.

Sarah still didn’t understand the Obedi as she would like, but she knew she never could. They lived in a reality that made hers look like a single room apartment compared to a galaxy.

She didn’t believe in gods, but now she knew where the idea originated. Because the Obedi reminded her of the Hellenistic pantheon mankind worshipped long before moving out to the stars. Powerful, so human in so many ways, and probably just as flawed.

Chapter 30 - Admiral’s Personal Log

11 Ors 15332

AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 22:14:32 11 ORS 15332

Personal log entry #1978, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.

Current Location: Deep Space, OSV Sheffaris, Komi System

Pilot, turn off your audio for the passenger compartment and shut the hatch.

“Aye, sir.”

[A sound AI estimates 100% to be an airtight hatch closing]

Back to the log.

There are two distinct species of humans now, the humans of our galaxy and the humans of Refuge, the adepts. But time will change everything and that unstoppable turning wheel will show us the variety of possibilities that humanity has.

We’ve been out in the galaxy for 15,000 years, which isn’t really long enough to create vastly different species. And with the base code of human DNA recorded by every colony ship sent to a new planet, genetic drift has been even less than it might have been if every planet was like Refuge, and just left to chance.

What I wonder is, were the Obedi once like us? Planetary bound intelligences with individual thoughts and fears, selfish concerns, and a limited comprehension of what is out there beyond our own braincases?

Because that’s not what they are now. Khala is almost comic in this reality, in my universe. But meeting him and Sylange in their home, I can’t help but feel as if we’re the ants the gods are showing mercy to.

It’s a desperate thing that’s happened.

“It’s not that desperate. If they wanted to destroy us, we’d be, as you say, ants before gods.”

[A deep sigh]

Quiet, Salphan, this is a log. Don’t speak until I’m done.

“Oh! Sorry. I thought you’d taken up some strange professorial disposition toward me.”

[A laugh]

No. Please, quiet now.

[A pause]

Good. So anyway, Salphan has a point. We might as well trust these Obedi, because it is, in my opinion, a simple fact that they could destroy us like swatting a fly. Whether we trust them or not is irrelevant, no more than I’d care if a gnat felt affection toward me.

[A sound AI estimates 79% likely to be Admiral Dayson’s companion snorting]

Salphan and I will be sharing with the crew our impressions, and I plan on performing in two ways. The first is as if the Obedi are our allies, because I think they are. The second is as if Bannick is my ally, something I’m much less certain of. But we need ships. If the Oasians, as we are now called by our allies and enemies, are to be taken seriously by humans, Hive, or Obedi, we’ll need a strong fleet. I have a fleet that can take any system around right now. I want a large force of fleets that can take a sector. Because we’re going to turn the Komi fleets away from human targets of opportunity and onto the true enemy of our future.

The machine intelligence as the Obedi refer to them.

[A 19 second pause]

Okay, what do you think?

“I think it’s the right move. The only logical way to go.”

Since when are you about logic?

“The question, dear Sarah, is when have I not been about logic?”

[A 47 second pause]

You know what? You’re right. You usually are. We’ll be docking here in a few minutes, secure your things while I let the pilot know to turn his audio back on.

“How do you know these things, I don’t see—”

Look out that porthole.

“Oh. My. That ship is big.”

[Admiral Dayson laughs for four seconds]

End the log, Lucy.

Chapter 31 - Black and White

11 Ors 15332

Sarah Dayson opened her eyes.

“— the alien has a pretty good grip on the shuttle,” someone said.

The pilot.

Everything seemed so bland, so restrictive. She felt like she couldn’t breathe but she didn’t know why. Looking sideways to see Salphan, he looked as stunned as she felt.

“Admiral?” the pilot asked. “Your orders?”

The shuttle lurched as the alien… Khala released them.

“Take us back to the Sheffaris,” Sarah ordered, hoping that was the right choice. She felt groggy, as if she was recovering from a night of too much wine.

“Right away,” the pilot said as Sarah felt the engines kick in. He seemed in a hurry to move away from Khala.

“Wingback chairs?” she asked Salphan.

“And a woman with black eyes,” he answered.

The experience was real. They’d gone somewhere else, and either no time had passed here or very little.

“How long did the alien have a grip on us, Ensign?” she asked their pilot.

“Maybe ninety seconds, Admiral. Not long at all.”

“And we were here the whole time?”

He laughed. “You mean the shuttle? We were held tight by the creature.”

“No. Salphan and I. Did anything happen to us?”

She sensed the pilot was starting to feel spooked by her questions. “No, sir, nothing.” A five second pause indicated the man’s hesitance to ask his next question. “Why?”

“I’m not sure. I need to sort this all out.”

They flew silent until arriving at the Sheffaris, other than a log entry. Sarah lost in her thoughts and Salphan seemingly lost in his. The pilot was smart enough or spooked enough not to ask any more about it.

Once docked with the ship, they retired to Sarah’s quarters despite being pressed by the rest of the crew to find out what happened.

“Did they back out on the deal?” Heinrich asked. “You weren’t gone long.”

“No, I can tell you that much. We have a new ally,” Sarah answered as she flipped the privacy setting on her hatch. “Salphan and I need to debrief each other, and I will brief all of you once we are satisfied we are both on the same page regarding the meeting.”

“What are your—” Kuo started to ask, but was cut off as Sarah closed the hatch.

“Lucy, set the walls to display real time visuals from outside the ship.”

“Immediately, Admiral,” the AI replied.

Space appeared around them. Sarah and Salphan both sat on her bed, staring out into the void.

“You’re hoping your mind is going to expand to fill this expanse, aren’t you?” Salphan asked her.

“I feel like a lifetime of luggage stuffed in a handbag,” Sarah told him. “I thought this might help us feel a bit less claustrophobic.

“If I understand those references, I feel that as well.”

“I know full well when you don’t understand something you look in my mind for the definition,” she chided him.

He blushed. “What do we do now? We either blindly trust or we blindly refuse to work with the Obedi. I have no ability to understand more than a few bits of what I saw wherever we were.”

“Me either,” Sarah said, agreeing. “I do know we made a deal, to work with the Obedi to eliminate the Hive. And I remember knowing so much, and because of that cautiously trusting Sylange.”

Salphan didn’t answer immediately. As he thought and she waited, they looked at the image of Komi Prime, blazing in the distance, warming planets so far away.

“How do we know we’re still ourselves?” Sarah asked.

“You’re going to have to trust me on this one, but I’d know. More importantly, Emille would have raised an alarm when I came back on board the ship.”

“I don’t think a lot has changed, other than we have an ally,” Sarah said, accepting his answer with a wan smile. “We still kill Urdoxander, we still make Bannick stick to his word, and we still kill Hive.”

“You can’t blow up stars,” Salphan said. “I remember that.”

He was right. Now that he mentioned it, she remembered that as well.

Why?

“It’s almost as if I remember what we agreed to do, but I can’t remember why we made any of those agreements. As if the reasoning was too complex to fit in my mind,” Salphan added.

“We must trust that our time there didn’t change our ability to make sound decisions,” Sarah said. “We will follow the agreements we know we made.”

“A sound plan.” Salphan gestured toward the door. “We have to tell the others before their imaginations run wild. And I recommend that we seem much more certain of our choice than either one of us are.”

Sarah stood up and clicked her boots to the floor. “That is on page one of the leadership manual, Salphan. Every command I’ve ever had, every order I’ve given, required me to do just that. So there will be no difficulty today.”

The battle adept stood next to her and kissed her gently on the forehead. “Then you should hope your lucky streak of being right continues.”

“Lucy, return the room to normal, kill the projection. Inform Captain Kuo that I would like a meeting of the top officers in the galley,” Sarah ordered.

“Right away, Admiral,” Lucy replied as the room returned to shades of gray.

Chapter 32 - Two Branches

Sylange hated returning to the restrictive reality of four dimensions. Not all universes were only four, but this one was. Of course there were yet other universes with only three, and once she’d heard tell of one with only two, so it could be worse.

“Grumpy?” Khala asked her.

“Not because of you,” she assured him. “You performed admirably, mate of mine. Getting the organics to the meeting by allying with one of their factions at a crucial battle, that was a good idea. Knowing which side to pick… well, that’s why you’re my mate.”

Lights of embarrassment flashed across his carapace. “I did what had to be done.” The light patterns turned toward shame. “I killed thousands of them to do what I needed to do. I am not happy about that.”

“Even with their fight against the machines, there isn’t a shortage of the organics.” Sylange stroked his midpoint ring. “I assure you, a thousand, or even a billion won’t be missed by the universe they inhabit. Even if we only save the adepts and a few of the others there will be stability in this universe as long as the machines are all gone. Consciousness is the key. Not so much the numbers.”

“Then why are there so many of them?” Khala asked.

Sylange flashed her disinterest in why. “This universe is particularly life friendly. It’s practically in every crook and cranny, wherever there is water and heat. The humans live in such places. They spread like… well, almost like the machines do in so many of the universes.”

“And why two branches in their evolution? Sarah Dayson’s people alone have consciousness. She is a capable leader.”

Sylange turned her backside toward a large star, the light of which she and Khala basked in. Her children raced around hectically, off in the distance, destroying the last of the machines in this system. Why was Khala making her think so hard with her own consciousness now shrunk back down to so few dimensions? It hurt and felt like she was a shadow of her real self.

“I think this is why Shosgawa was so demanding that we save this universe. Something different is happening here. It has created the means of its own regulation in the adepts, and that is something we’ve not seen before,” she finally answered.

“So then why not allow the non-adept humans to go extinct?” he pressed.

“Because, Khala, did you not sense how Sarah Dayson’s mind expanded into the oververse? Not as our does, but she, and I suspect her species of human, has something the adepts do not.”

Khala flashed impatience. “Do I have to drag it out of you?”

“It is Sarah Dayson’s people who will evolve to reach the oververse if this universe survives. Not the adepts. This reality has created the adepts to be caretakers. They are conscious, but Salphan didn’t grow to fill the freedom of the oververse as Sarah did. Did you not notice that?”

Another embarrassment flash. But this time not for praise, but for failure.

“I did not.”

“And that is why I am Matriarch, and a female will always be.”

“Do the adepts know this?” Khala asked. “They seem to accept Sarah Dayson as their leader, but do they know the end result that will befall them? That they are an evolutionary dead end?”

“My scenario is still only a hypothesis, Khala,” Sylange replied. “I am speculating. As I said, we’ve never seen this before. But it makes sense.”

“This universe created the adepts as herd masters for its own future.”

“Correct.”

“What of the part of itself it invests in the consciousness of the adepts?”

“When heat death comes to this reality, they will end, releasing their consciousness back into the whole. So in a way they will survive, when that consciousness is spread into the final survivors of this place. But that is uncountable chimindiks in the future.”

Khala paused, appearing to ponder the implications.

“Do we inform them?” he asked.

“Are you mad?” she said, serious in the question. “They have enough reason to fight, these humans. They don’t even need a reason, really. If you gave them one as good as that, one that would provoke war between the two species, who knows what would become of this reality?”

“Makes sense,” he agreed, snuggling in closer to her. “You’re right.”

Her guesses as to the path of human evolution may have impressed her mate, but that’s all she was doing. Guessing. Since her mother’s death and Sylange’s ascension, she’d been playing her role with uncertainty and guesswork.

She wondered if it had been the same for her mother when Shosgawa was first a matriarch.

Chapter 33 - Incomprehensible

12 Ors 15332

Sarah shrugged. She wanted to give the crew concrete answers, and make it seem like their plan was written on a foundation of knowledge.

But she couldn’t.

“The basic answer is this. The aliens proved they are not from this universe. The human mind isn’t fully compatible with living outside our four dimensions, so the details are less than perfect. But we know what we need to do.”

Her officers looked skeptical, and Sarah didn’t blame them. Kuo looked concerned, Heinrich was stern in her skepticism. Algiss looked confused, as if he didn’t even understand what happened.

Well neither did she, but she wasn’t going to admit that.

She knew what Heinrich was thinking. How can the conclusions from the meeting be trusted if the experience in Sylange’s realm wasn’t remembered in detail? And how did Sarah and Salphan know the conclusions weren’t merely implanted in their minds to suit the purposes of the Obedi?

Those were good thoughts, and even if Heinrich wasn’t thinking them now, she’d get there. These thoughts were something that needed addressed.

“Kuo, I’m fine. Heinrich. I can see you’re worried. And I get that. You’re wondering how you can trust the conclusions I have shared with you.”

“I am wondering exactly that, Admiral.”

“Have you ever questioned my judgment before?” Sarah asked.

Heinrich’s eyes narrowed. She had. Of course she had.

Sarah continued without a verbal answer. “I, and you, command by natural talent. It’s how we’re wired. When my gut instinct says for me to do something, it’s a conglomeration of numerous factors. Experience. Judgment. Instinct. I don’t know, call it what you will. But sometimes leadership decisions aren’t rational, they’re spur of the moment decisions that are more inspiration than reason. Am I wrong?”

Heinrich crossed her arms, a gesture that Sarah read as defensiveness and reluctance toward accepting the statement. Maybe Heinrich was often naturally skeptical. It wasn’t a bad trait for a commander to have, if that commander knew when to set skepticism aside and act.

Heinrich finally nodded and uncrossed her arms, having taken time to sort it all out in her mind. “No, Admiral, you’re not. And I have questioned you more than once. Often I am the one proven wrong when I do.”

“And sometimes you’re right. That’s how it works. Nobody is one hundred percent effective, one hundred percent right, either you or me. That’s why I always listen to your counsel as one of my senior officers. And Kuo’s, although he probably doesn’t see it that way lately.”

Kuo grinned. “You’re a nightmare boss sometimes. But you’re also my friend and our best hope of defeating the Hive.”

“I appreciate your frank assessment,” Sarah replied. “But I will do what I think is right in the end, and if you haven’t changed my mind, then deal with it.”

He nodded. “Of course. I’m still alive, mainly due to you. I’ll deal with it, as you say.”

Heinrich sighed loudly, exhaling through her nose as she pursed her lips. “As will I,” she agreed. “You’re the admiral of this fleet, if you say jump, we jump. If you say we trust the Obedi, we trust them, at least on the surface. But I will watch for betrayal, Admiral, and if they betray us, I will find a way to kill them.”

“It’s good to have options,” Sarah replied, giving a centimeter of ground back to her officers. “You’re the only human commander to defeat me, so as arrogant as that sounds, I believe you are exactly the one to research a way to punish the Obedi if they betray us. But they won’t.”

“If we battle the Obedi, it will be a fly attacking a giant,” Salphan said, finally chiming in. “If they wished harm to us, there is nothing we could do to stop them.”

“What is your impression of them, other than their military capability?” Kuo asked the adept battle master.

“They are ancient. The place they live is so beyond our full comprehension that I feel awe every time I think about being there. Not because I fear it, but because I know that when I was there, I was more than Salphan. My mind expanded to fill some of the room it was given. Even then, I feel like our hosts limited the room we had, probably for our own good. My comprehension there exceeded everything I know to be possible here.”

“Is that what you sensed, Admiral?” Algiss asked.

“I didn’t feel that I was limited in how much room I was given,” Sarah answered. “But other than that, I had the same experience Salphan did.”

“Then you made the decision to trust the Obedi when you were in their home?” Heinrich asked, looking at Salphan.

“You’re looking for an excuse to not trust them, aren’t you Inez Heinrich?” Salphan asked, chuckling. Before she answered, he continued. “No, I made it here, in Sarah’s quarters, with her. Because I know the rules of battle too. Sometimes you feel something to be right. And that is what you do. Even if it seems dangerous, even if it seems needlessly risky. In this case, it is not needlessly risky, and the danger that does exist is a danger we must embrace. Because, as Sarah has pointed out to us all more than once, in just a few centuries humanity will be dead if we don’t find a way to destroy the Hive.”

“We did find a way. Blow up their home territory,” Heinrich rebutted.

“That won’t work,” Sarah said.

Heinrich arched an eyebrow, looking skeptical once again. “Why not?”

“I…” Sarah felt flustered, frustrated by the lack of comprehension as to why her original plan wouldn’t suffice any more. “I struggle to explain it. I don’t understand consciousness, I’m not a scientist. Something to do with the degree of sentience and destroying a section of this universe’s awareness of itself. It would be like taking out part of a brain to stop seizures, for example. Something after that will always be missing.”

“That sounds like mystical nonsense,” Heinrich said. “With all due respect, Admiral.”

“I get that,” Sarah replied. “But it’s the path we’re taking. If the Obedi can’t keep up their end, we can fall back on my old plan.” She reached out and squeezed Salphan’s hand. “But we won’t need to do that. Because I know the agreement we made with Sylange and Khala is a good one. Salphan was there to help, and he feels it is right as well.”

“You’re the admiral,” Heinrich said. If she had additional reservations, she said nothing about them. “I follow where you lead.”

“You should sound more certain of that,” Kuo admonished, surprising Sarah by coming to her aid. “Admiral, I am worried about you. About what effect this event had on your psyche. But the truth is, if you say we do this, I will embrace it as if it was my own idea.”

Heinrich glared at Kuo.

“She’s my admiral,” Kuo explained, “and I owe her the respect she’s due. If you’d served with her on the Teplo, you’d feel exactly the same.”

The steel expression on Heinrich’s face finally broke.

Sarah watched the exchange. This was purely between them. She’d leave it up to them to decide how they would deal with command differences, as long as it didn’t affect how the fleet performed.

“You’re right,” Heinrich finally agreed after almost a minute of silence. “Admiral… Sarah… you forgave me and gave me a chance when everyone else in the fleet thought I was a traitor. Your plan is my duty. And I will execute that duty to the fullest extent of my abilities.”

Sarah looked back and forth at both officers for a moment, then waved toward Kuo while grinning at Heinrich. “Wow, he really has changed you,” she said before laughing. “Good job, Hanada. You’re softening her up a bit.”

Heinrich’s face turned red. “He simply pointed out that we all owe you. Upon reflection, he’s got a point.”

“He simply revealed that you’re human,” Salphan said to Heinrich. “That you have loyalty, trust, and compassion. That you understand the debt that all of us here build to a successful leader. Our good leaders sacrifice much for us, and we let them. You’re seeing that, maybe for the first time.”

“Stay out of my brain,” Heinrich growled.

Sarah squeezed Salphan’s hand again. “You’re welcome in my brain when the time is right.”

The adept grinned.

“We’re decided then?” Kuo asked. “We trust the Obedi, and we work with them to end the Hive. We bring the Komi Syndicate into the fold, secure Bannick’s leadership, then use the… what number of warships did he say? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Either number seems ridiculous.”

“He didn’t really know for sure. Bannick said that ten thousand was a conservative estimate,” Sarah replied.

“Okay, we use the many-thousands of warships of the Komi empire to pin down the Hive so the Obedi can come and wipe them out.”

“It saves the Komi territory, and it eliminates our threat,” Sarah replied. “Bannick, by cooperating, will still have an empire to rule over. And if he doesn’t work with us and we can’t make the Obedi plan work, we will fall back on my plan of destroying the stars of the Hive systems and the surrounding stars out to two hundred light-years.”

“We have to kill or remove Urdoxander from power before your enemy-turned-friend can help us,” Heinrich reminded Sarah. “Bannick is nothing but a disinherited son at the moment.”

“He’d love to hear you put it like that,” Sarah laughed. “The look on his face would be delightful.”

“I’ll get Major Hamden and start working on a plan,” Heinrich said. “The man is a tactical genius when it comes to ground troops. We’re going to need more ships to carry all the marines.”

“We’ll need schematics for the ground insertion point from Bannick. We’ll still be outnumbered a thousand to one on the surface of Komi IV,” Kuo pointed out. “At least we’ll put all of our troops in one place, and the Komi forces will be spread all over the planet. If we’re quick, they won’t have time to respond.”

“Then we have a beginning to a plan,” Sarah agreed, “but you got one thing wrong.”

“Oh?” Heinrich and Kuo said simultaneously before looking at each other in surprise.

“First we go to the former Alliance capital and get our people,” Sarah said. “Crews for all of our ships, more combat marines, and supplies for the entire lot. Arms and munitions if we can. If I’m going to fight the most powerful empire the human race has ever seen, I’m going to do it with fully loaded guns.”

Heinrich smiled and agreed.

Kuo nodded enthusiastically, clearly eager to free more Alliance personnel. “Capital idea, Admiral, but we will encounter hostile Komi ships when we do that. Although I do feel like we have a chance with the adepts on our side,” he said, standing. “With your permission, Admiral, I’ll go talk to the crew and we can head toward Refuge to get the ships we need for your Alliance personnel plan.”

Heinrich stood as well. “And I’ll get to engineering. This bucket is barely holding together.”

“Bucket?” Sarah asked, feigning indignity. “This is my ship you’re slandering.”

“And once we fix him, maybe I’ll be closer to understanding why my admiral is flying a heavy ELINT destroyer instead of a capital cruiser or the Hyaku,” Heinrich replied.

Heinrich and Kuo laughed as they left the galley. Sarah noticed the looks they gave each other. And then she gave Salphan one just like it.

“You restored their confidence,” he told her. “And their faith.”

“We’re going to win,” she said in response. “We hold the high cards now.”

“You sound fairly confident as well,” Salphan said. “But be careful. War can turn bad in all sorts of ways.”

“True, but this is no ordinary war,” Sarah countered.

“How so?”

“I have the universe on my side.”

Chapter 34 - Change

Emille and Alarin separated their minds into individuals once more. Salphan was coming to visit, and while he was also an adept, he didn’t understand the strong appeal that unity had for the married couple.

Their quarters, on the adept observation deck of the Sheffaris, were lavish by most standards. They had gravcouches like much of the rest of the ship, but very few controls. The room was ringed on two sides and toward the front of the ship with displays that would share intel, communications, or a view of the outside as needed.

For the times when the ship wasn’t moving the room had soft couches, and the most normal bed Emille had seen yet on a spaceship. She and Alarin still had to strap themselves into it to keep from floating away, but she liked the effort Sarah’s people had made to make her and her husband comfortable.

Dinner usually came to them, although occasionally they’d eat in the crew mess.

Mess was a funny name for a place where people ate food.

After a minute or two of being herself again, clarity returned to her mind. Just in time to be ready for Alarin’s questions brought on by the recent events in the Komi system.

“Do you think it’s possible for Salphan to share the kind of unity we do with Sarah?” he asked Emille.

She shook her head. “I doubt it. Her mind is too limited, and he doesn’t quite reach the threshold of the gift to achieve that sort of mental cohesion anyway.”

“Our grasp of the gift is as individual as we are,” Alarin reminded her. “Salphan is terrific at what he does. Fire, telekinesis, skills with combat utility.”

“The same could be said for you.”

“Not to his degree,” her husband replied. “My gift lies more in the interpretation of individual minds.”

She rolled her eyes and giggled. “Will you forever brag that it was you who first read the newcomers?”

He laughed and threw a pillow at her. It shot in a straight line across the room, past her head, and into a display screen. “I will brag all I want.”

She laughed again. His point was valid. Her skills were different, Salphan’s were different. Even the rebel Eislen’s skills were different, although she didn’t yet know where his strength lay since the peasant was too stubborn to learn properly.

“Do you think Sarah and Salphan will mate permanently?” she asked, changing the subject.

“I do, I think they already have. I’ve been in her mind. The pain washes under the surface like a river, and for him to get into her heart is no small miracle. Had he not saved her life at the risk of his own, she might not have opened up to him.”

“And is that a good thing?”

“Her pressures are immense,” Alarin said, his voice darkening. “Lately I’ve been wondering if her sanity is being tested. I think he buttresses her against that risk.”

“Of insanity?”

“Yes.”

“She’s fine,” Emille scoffed.

“Merik was fine too, until she wasn’t,” Alarin chided. “She was always one with a cruel streak, but not insane until her last year.”

“Sarah isn’t consumed with a tumor,” Emille reminded him.

Alarin shook his head. “Some cancers, my dear, aren’t physical. Yet they consume you just the same.”

That was a truth, and she hated when he made so much sense. She held up her hand, stopping the conversation. She sensed… “Salphan approaches.”

Alarin waved toward the door and the open button depressed. A moment later the hatch dilated, showing Salphan standing on the far side.

“Knock, knock,” the battle adept said, smiling.

“Come in,” Emille gestured. “Strap to the couch so you don’t float around. It strains my neck enough to follow Alarin as he floats aimlessly.”

Salphan clacked across the room in his treasured boots then strapped in as Alarin went on about how much he liked 0G now.

“You and Sarah have changed,” Alarin accused Salphan once they were all seated.

“Oh. Right to it then,” the older adept replied.

“Right to it,” Alarin agreed.

“We’ve shared an experience I don’t know if you can comprehend,” Salphan said slowly, his voice seeming to question his words as he said them. “You brought me here more to interrogate me than for dinner, didn’t you?”

“I promise you a good dinner, but I suppose we did,” Emille said. “There is much to know.”

“Such as?”

“You can tell us what happened with the aliens, for starters,” Alarin told him.

Salphan did so and left out nothing.

Emille would detect any deception immediately anyway, and Alarin probably would as well.

“You trust these Obedi?” Alarin asked when Salphan had finished.

“I do, but there also isn’t any choice in the matter.”

“There is always a choice,” Emille countered. “Always.”

“There are always at least two choices,” Salphan agreed. “But sometimes one of those two choices is death.”

“Is that the case here?” Alarin questioned.

“Not in the sense that the Obedi are the threat. But I believe they want our help to destroy the Hive that Sarah speaks of. That we’re essential to the process,” Salphan replied.

“How?”

“I don’t know. I just sense that we are tied to this place, this universe, in a way that is important to the destruction of the machines.”

“By we you mean…” Emille pressed sensing clarity was needed.

“The adepts,” Salphan told her. “I don’t think Sarah’s people are overly important to saving this universe.”

“Have you told her that?” Alarin asked.

Salphan looked perplexed. “Do I look stupid to you?”

Chapter 35 - Tandella

14 Ors 15332

Heinrich never knew if she was going to direct the fleet or not. Technically she was Fleet Captain, but with only one fleet of ships there was a lot of oversight from Admiral Dayson. The plan to sterilize Hive space would have drawn the admiral away, letting Heinrich have a bit more freedom, but that didn’t materialize.

She wrapped a coolant pipe that threatened to burst, even as the Sheffaris pulled into dock at Tandella Station. Deep in the machine-filled aft of the destroyer, she had a lot of time to think. Nobody was with her except a few surviving crew members, both of whom were busy doing their part to hold the ship together just long enough to get home.

Fortunately, once the major damage from battle had been repaired, they’d vented the fouled air into space while they were near the Hyaku in the Komi system. Then they’d refilled from the giant ship’s reserve air tanks.

The vessel clanged as a docking collar sealed to the hull, and finally she could quit worrying. The Fyurigan was sending a contingent of technicians and engineers to patch up the Sheffaris. The exterior, seen during Heinrich’s inspection when joined to the Hyaku, was starting to show the scars of a battle-hardened warship. New unpainted armor plates covered the bridge breach that had killed Captain Harmeen, and now similar patches would soon cover the rear hull and the grappler engine nacelles.

They were lucky to be alive, and it might be the lighter armor of the destroyer that had saved them. Much of the enemy fire went straight through the ship instead of exploding on the hull as the munition vaporized. In passing through, much of the kinetic energy was wasted. Still, spalling on the inside of the engineering section had killed two of her people.

That gave her a stake in going after Urdoxander. Intellectually she’d understood why Sarah Dayson took it personal when people under her watch died, seeing two people she cared about riddled with holes from splattering molten metal really brought that “taking it personal” concept home.

And Urdoxander Komi was responsible.

She looked up as the first of the Tandella Station engineers entered the compartment.

“Wow, you survived this Fleet Captain?” one, an older woman, asked.

“As did these two and more,” she said, gesturing toward her workers still on station. “But it was all luck, depending on where we were. I still have ringing in my ears.”

“We’re standing to relieve you, sir,” the same person said. “I’m a civilian, but I’ll be in charge of the restoration of your vessel.”

“A civilian?” she asked.

“I’m a planetary engineer. Hydro projects, bridges, mantle mines… and similar projects,” she replied. “You can trust I’ll get this small-scale stuff done quickly.”

“What are you doing here? A civilian should be working in Jerna City.”

“See these wrinkles?” the woman asked, pointing to her face. “I’m too old to be out there fighting. But I have experience and can do things here. Not having a rank means I get to say what I want to who I want in order to get things done.”

“That must be nice,” Heinrich agreed.

“It is,” the engineer agreed. “And speaking of saying what I want…” She gestured toward the hatch. “Get out so I can get my team in here and get started.”

“The Fyurigan crew works for you?”

“Yes, Captain,” the woman answered. “Now if you don’t mind,” she added as she gestured toward the hatch again.

“I can take a hint,” Heinrich said, smiling.

She opened the hatch just as she heard the woman mutter behind her. “I was beginning to wonder.”

She stopped by her quarters to pick up her travel pack. Kuo met her in the gangway when she exited her room.

“What’s our plan, sir?” he asked.

“You and I are going to pick a ship of our choice, and outfit it with a crew of our choice. Preferably one of the more powerful cruisers. The Hyaku will be the other significant capital ship for our mission, the admiral will take the flag officer’s suite there. We’re going to assemble about forty ships if we can manage that many, then go to Alliance space for recruiting.”

“Komi space,” he corrected.

“For now,” she agreed. “But maybe not in the long run.”

Admiral Dayson interrupted them, approaching from behind. “Freeing the Alliance is not one of my priorities. If Bannick rules fair, there is no reason to care about the politics. But I agree, for now might be a valid statement since the requirement of him ruling fair is hard to think possible.”

“Insisting on breaking up his empire… that would break our alliance with him,” Kuo said, frowning. “We may never be big enough to throw our weight around like that.”

“May?” the admiral said. “We never will if you judge by the numbers. But that doesn’t matter. We will never share the adepts with him, so we’ll always outclass him.”

“Not that we’re looking to go that route,” Heinrich reminded them. “This isn’t a pissing contest. The short term goal is we need people.”

Admiral Dayson nodded her agreement. “You two walk with me, we’ll pick up Kuo’s things and go. Emille and Alarin are already on Tandella, we’re all taking a shuttle back to Refuge together.”

“It’s strange to think of boarding a shuttle to cross thousands of AU still,” Kuo shared.

“Not so much to me anymore,” Heinrich replied to him. “Instant travel is nice. One can get used to having the adepts around.”

“Oh, yes. One can,” the admiral agreed as Salphan appeared at the end of the gangway. She gestured him toward the group.

“Conspiring to conquer the universe?” he asked as he floated up.

“Something like that,” Kuo said. “We were just talking about how great it was the adepts and our fleet are one team now.”

“It does seem to have turned out well,” Salphan agreed.

The admiral gave them two hours to take care of personal matters and a docking bay number for the shuttle.

“Dinner?” Kuo asked. “I hear their hydroponics section on this station has some great pepper varieties. The restaurants are supposed to be delicious.”

Heinrich looked at her watch. “Two hours,” she muttered. “Wonder what she’s up to?”

“You’ll know when you see it,” Kuo said.

It was no longer uncommon at all for military families to be seen together, showing affection. The Seventh Fleet asked great sacrifices of them, and in return allowed them to live as normal of a life as possible. When not on a mission, many ships now allowed family on board if the crew member couldn’t be released to go dirtside.

Heinrich liked the policy. She didn’t have to appear as distant when Kuo was around. She even noticed some of the people acknowledging her smile when they saw her arm locked in his.

Was she growing soft?

Time would be the judge. For now, she just had to eat a hotter pepper than Kuo so he’d know who the soft one was.

Chapter 36 - Firing Range

Genesis launched her shuttles to Zero, providing him with the twelve missiles for his stores. And two more. The extras didn’t have the FTL missile drive that the first twelve did, but they did have the advanced ship FTL drives that he intended to weaponize.

“These are for proper field testing,” she informed him. “You will not enter battle without a functional weapon.”

“Is that because you care?” Zero asked, wondering if she was experiencing an emotion within her code framework.

“It’s because I am programmed to care.”

That didn’t really answer his question since every reaction she had was a result of programming. Was it genuine emotion? Or simply a reaction based upon the parameters of her software?

What defined the separation from machine and living entity?

Zero didn’t know the answer. Or even which category he fit in.

“As I am,” he informed her. “I created you, therefore you matter to me.”

She didn’t respond to that with another emotional statement. “There is a defense station at the following location according to the databanks I’ve recovered from the colony that inhabited this station before me.” She transmitted a coded packet to him. “This system will not be ours if that station discovers the changes you’ve made here. You will be exposed, and your plans will fail.”

“If these weapons fail, I will be exposed as well,” Zero countered.

“The weapons will not fail.”

“What makes you so certain,” he asked.

“I improved upon your design.”

* * *

Zero closed on the defense station at over two hundred kilometers per second. He was inside three hundred thousand kilometers when the first radar probes washed across his hull. A transmission soon followed.

“This is defense colony St28z74. This approach is unscheduled. Is there an explanation?”

Zero wouldn’t be fired on yet. The Collective wasn’t in the habit of destroying itself, so the defense colony wouldn’t consider him a threat. “This is Gr09p56,” he answered, “this colony is experiencing a fusion plant instability. Venting plasma through the drive system has redirected this colony to the current position.”

“Is the damage repaired?” 74 asked.

“The venting has ceased. The fusion plant is still inoperative.”

“74 will launch maintenance shuttles to assist.”

“This colony will prepare to receive the shuttles,” Zero agreed.

The link closed. 74 would be satisfied with the conversation, as the Collective did not lie.

Three shuttles departed the station shortly thereafter, and accelerated toward Zero. He scanned them. Standard repair shuttles, unarmed.

His ranging sensors indicated the distance to 74 was under a hundred thousand kilometers. It was nearing time to test his weapons.

Eighty thousand.

Fifty.

Thirty. The shuttles were maneuvering to dock. He would eliminate the minor colonies within and hand the shells over to Genesis. She’d use them to do work at the asteroid once she repopulated the colony crucibles within.

Twenty.

He fired. Staggering the missiles, he tested two separate methodologies. The first missile raced toward the station, accelerating at over 500G. The second trailed behind, running at 100G.

“What is the—” 74 transmitted.

The first missile, in range with the singularity spun up, activated its FTL drive just above the station’s hull. Just in time as the first weapon locks from the station were setting off alarms in Zero’s sensory algorithms.

The bubble from the missile’s drive ripped a hole in space that sliced through the defensive station. Radiation flashed as the weapon continued accelerating and the pieces of the facility within the bubble leaked out at the boundary wall.

Just like what he’d seen when he killed the invader that killed his first child.

As the highspace bubble pushed forward it obliterated the remnants of the station still in front of it, striking the metal components with such ferocity they flashed into plasma and light almost instantly. Unable to enter the bubble, a steady stream of ionized gas flowed around the missile’s FTL field, looking much like a rocket exhaust plume.

The station’s radio emissions stopped, including radar and any attempts at communication.

Zero had intentionally missed the crucible that contained St28z74. The second missile was targeted on that.

The second weapon already had the FTL field activated, although it wasn’t pushing into FTL speeds. No, it was behaving as if it was still accelerating at 100G, which was extremely effective as well. The front line of the bubble hit the station’s habitat section, immediately turning the material in front of it and nearby into plasma. The blast, turning less of the material into raw energy, packed a larger physical punch.

The station erupted into a massive explosion, tearing itself apart.

Everything that could effectively defend this system was gone. Grapplers and G-Ks, as well as two small frigates.

In Zero’s shuttle bay three small colonies ceased to exist as his own maintenance nanites tore them apart.

It was a good time to be Zero.

Chapter 37 - Prelude to Civil War

29 Ors 15332

Bannick was distracted from the meeting with his officers. They shared thoughts on the last days and planned for the coming. But he thought about family, about his fleets, and the betrayals that inevitably found and tried to destroy him.

The Palidragon was moderately damaged. A dozen other ships in his fleet were scrap. Thousands of people were dead, and thousands more injured. Andina’s fleet was just as damaged. She’d gone off to her secret facilities to see to repair.

The fleet he’d amassed since the battle in the Komi system floated at a deep space rendezvous point, no star system closer than two light years. The only identifying feature indicating this point was of any significance was a supply depot Bannick stashed here a decade ago. Shuttles currently raced to and from the depot, supplying the ships with new ammunition, resources for repairs, tools, and fuel.

It wouldn’t be enough for every ship that fought at Komi. Some would need to be abandoned here.

To make matters worse Sarah Dayson, before leaving Komi, made a demand that didn’t serve his purposes at all. She wanted his help to acquire fresh crews at Acrinn-Boyeg, which despite being the capital of the small republic he’d conquered, was still one of the smaller and less inhabited systems in the former Alliance.

He needed ships to replenish his fleet. And she wanted those same ships. Their first hurdle to overcome.

There was a ship manufacturing facility there, currently mothballed due to the incompatibility of Alliance designs with Komi tactics. It was still intact, however. He’d saved it from destruction for a specific reason.

It was remote, and not currently on the Komi system charts. Few knew about it other than him and a few of his staff. If he could get enough of his ships to that star dock, many could be saved. Dayson wanted the crews that the Alliance had stationed in Acrinn for manning the ships she was demanding from him.

Marooned after the conquest, the Alliance crewmen were simply left in place by Bannick. He’d transferred some to the star dock, mainly to be available to serve his needs. But he’d also given himself the ability to replace crew losses as well. Since the fall of the system, the incomplete ships in the star dock were either scrapped or redesigned. Conversion to Komi standards was well underway for a fair number of vessels.

This was not done by choice. The politics of House Komi were such that either one prepared for betrayal or died silently. Erased from history as the whims of Urdoxander Komi turned dark. Bannick’s mother, officially dead in a drowning accident, was probably such a victim of the High Lord’s whims.

Bannick had prepared for his day of betrayal since. Father had likely found out from spies how important Palia was in Bannick’s life. A commoner, Urdoxander would judge her unworthy of the family. If he’d followed his father’s summons and left Palia on Mindari, she’d be dead. Some officer would have been executed for ‘going renegade’ and father would have made a big scene about avenging Bannick’s loss as well as the ‘senseless’ genocide at Mindari.

But that wasn’t how it happened.

Mother’s death, as Bannick had come of age nearly twenty years earlier, was intended to be seen as an accident. Hull failure on her yacht. The truth was she’d never agreed with how father raised children. His mother’s death instead served as a warning. And Bannick was no fool. He’d gotten the message and bided his time.

Dayson was a hidden card he intended to play in this game, a knife for his father’s back. Unfortunately, the card was no longer hidden, and the knife hadn’t found its mark yet.

When he’d departed the battle at the Komi system, he went to Mindari. While there he’d verified the sterilization of the planet and figured out Urdoxander’s intentions.

The death fleet was orbital scrap as Dayson told him it was. Many of Bannick’s warships left in the system were still in place, under orders by the High Lord Komi to wait for Dayson to return and kill her.

His father had no idea how hard that task was.

The captains of many of those ships were loyal to him over Urdoxander, or at least to Admiral Cothis. His fleet of thirty-seven serviceable vessels swelled to over a hundred.

“You could turn on Dayson when she meets you,” Cothis said to him. “She’s very concerned that’s exactly what your plan is, or at least she was when I was last with her.” He rubbed his throat and an unpleasant look crossed his face.

“You surely know me better than that. When Andina was practically exiled to the systems she controlled for father, I didn’t abandon her despite Urdoxander wanting me to do so. Sometimes honor is more important than political goals,” Bannick answered, surprised Cothis would suggest such a dishonorable maneuver.

“Was it honor that made you torture that woman to lure Dayson into a trap?” Palia’s pleasant voice asked as she strode into the room. She answered herself. “No. It was necessity.”

“You’re wrong, love. It was desperation,” Bannick said, pained that she would ask such a cutting question. “I didn’t think I had much political capital left with the Komi council. I needed to stop Dayson or face the same fate as Andina. You can see from our current status that I was right. But I was wrong about Dayson. She is far more pragmatic than I expected.”

Palia pursed her lips and nodded. She knew it bothered him to torture Sachelle. She must have wanted Cothis to hear about it.

“I am sorry I failed you, Lord Bannick,” Cothis said. “Dayson, despite my dislike of the woman, is a better tactician than I am.”

“Really?” Bannick asked. “That’s quite the admission.”

Cothis sighed. “Yes, Lord. She showed me as little as possible, but I still learned things. I resent her talent as a commander. But you’re right, we can’t betray her. I fear she would obliterate us if we did.”

“We need her to defeat Urdoxander,” Bannick replied. “I will do what it takes to restore the empire to stability.”

An expression of warmth and sincerity settled on Cothis’s face. Palia’s ploy in mentioning Sachelle had worked. Cothis was improving his opinion of Bannick’s dedication to the Komi people, hence the apology.

Commoner or not, Palia’s skill at manipulating his senior officers was not common at all.

The meeting room they were in was luxurious. On the foremost habitation ring, they were precisely at one gravity. Part of Bannick wanted to take his fleet and raid other systems for resources. Create the greatest pirate cartel the galaxy had ever seen. But romantic thoughts of swashbuckling through space wouldn’t solve the Hive problem. And Dayson seemed obsessed with that.

“When do we jump to Acrinn?” Palia asked. “I’d like to spend time with this woman that makes both of you cringe.”

She was bold now that they were betrothed. Bannick had taken a few weeks to understand his evolving stance on Palia’s more aggressive role in matters, but he’d decided he liked it. She was even better counsel for her newfound assertiveness.

“Right away,” Cothis said. “Emergency repairs are complete, and we’ve got an actual fleet with us now, even if it is small and too light on heavy cruisers. Either we get to Acrinn and enter battle or enlarge our fleet. But either way your father will counter our actions once alerted of our intentions. He might even send the death fleets into Alliance space again.”

“Then we find a course he can’t counter,” Bannick said. He tapped a button on the table. “Bridge.”

“Captain Miko, Lord Komi.”

“Take the fleet to Acrinn. I want to be in the bubble in thirty minutes.”

“Right away,” Miko replied.

Bannick severed the link. “What do you think will happen at Acrinn?” he asked Cothis.

“There is a small chance the fleet there will remain loyal to the home system,” Cothis replied. “I predict that most of them will side with us when we show them what happened to Mindari. A lot of Komi families and military personnel died there.”

“That means we’re gaining the strength we need to face your father,” Palia said. “We’re headed toward a civil war.”

“Yes. We are,” Bannick said. He turned toward his command officer. “Admiral, dispatch a scout to Andina’s location. Tell her we’re headed to Acrinn, and that we’d like her to come.”

“Her ships took a serious beating, Lord Komi,” Cothis said. “She might not be capable of fielding a fleet.”

“Then I have one she can join. I want her dreadnought with us.”

“As you wish, Lord Bannick. It will be done before we jump.”

Bannick dismissed the man and then looked at Palia. “He fears Dayson.”

“She sounds a little deranged by his description,” Palia agreed. “But that might be a show. We should know before we trust her with too much of our fate.”

“Agreed,” Bannick said. “We will get to know her at Acrinn, outside war conditions.”

Palia nodded.

Defeating Urdoxander would depend far too much on a foreign fleet, one that he was technically committing treason to assist. Alternatively, from another viewpoint, he was making wise moves during a state of civil war.

Which story got told would depend on who lived to write the history books.

Chapter 38 - House Cothis

29 Ors 15332

Admiral Cothis had limited time.

He had to get to his quarters to prepare a short message, then get to the scout hangars to complete Lord Bannick’s orders.

The scout ships could be made ready now. He punched in the code for the squadron commander he wanted, a junior officer from a secondary family in House Cothis. “Lieutenant Commander Vayarmick. I have orders for you. I’ll be in Scout Hangar Two in fifteen minutes, and I’ll need an immediate launch. Prepare four scout ships with FTL collars.”

“At your command, Admiral,” the officer replied.

He closed the link. There was no purpose delaying the officer from his task.

His quarters were on the foremost habitation ring of the Palidragon, so he was there in a few minutes. Pulling a data pad from the bottom drawer of his dresser, he plugged in a data crystal and activated the microphone for dictation.

High Lord Urdoxander,

I am writing to you in order to let you know who serves the High Lord with the most loyalty. It is my honor, standing amid your enemies, that I serve you. I know you think me a traitor, but it is I, a son of House Cothis, that will bring you the prize you seek.

Instant travel from system to system. I have seen it. On board the ships of the enemy, I have done it.

Your son Lord Bannick is cementing his alliance with the pirate Dayson. I am sending out scout ships with orders from you, assuming that by acting in your interest I will also carry your authority, ordering fleets at Acrinn to flock to your son’s side until the renegade’s fleet is in reach.

Then I will give the order to spring the trap.

I expect to be reporting my success to you within the half-year.

I congratulate you on the size of the force you dedicated to the conflict in the Komi System. It was significant and would have been sufficient if not for an unexpected foe in the battle. I am uncertain as to the nature of the craft that intervened on Dayson’s side, but it is one more prize we will secure when she is subdued at Acrinn.

I thank you for allowing House Cothis to serve the throne. And I humbly request the opportunity to deal with the so-called Admiral Dayson when she is convicted of piracy in the courts of Komi IV. She has threatened my life more than once. I will relish the opportunity to take hers.

This fleet will enter highspace in the next day or two. I will be out of touch until we arrive at Acrinn in forty-four days.

Your servant,

Admiral Cothis, serving your interests on the Palidragon.

He saved the message to an encrypted data crystal, and slipped it into his pocket, then quickly completed orders for the fleets at Acrinn, making three copies.

To the commander that receives this:

I am Admiral Cothis of House Cothis. On authority given to me by the High Lord Urdoxander Komi, you are hereby ordered to the following tasks.

1. You will pretend to betray the throne in order to serve Lord Bannick Komi.

2. You will take no actions against the rebel fleets until you are ordered to do so in person by me.

3. You will prepare every soldier in your fleet for boarding the Palidragon.

4. Ship to ship combat will be directed at the Oasian fleet(s), but I will advise you when the battle begins which ships I wish to capture, not destroy.

5. Be certain to include the number of loyal ships to me when I arrive by private channel.

The preparation of the marines can be explained as a readiness drill. Set aside twenty percent of the ships in system that you know will be loyal, and order them to attack when the rebel Lord Bannick reveals to them he is a traitor. He must believe that some loyalists are present.

I need not remind you the price all of our houses will pay if we fail, or you do not adhere to your loyalty. Secrecy is paramount. You may reveal this plan to nobody outside your top command staff, and only to those you know to be completely loyal to the Syndicate.

He didn’t sign the document. He didn’t need to. He encrypted his personal identification code into the crystals. One person per fleet would see his message, and then share it with the selected few. The crystals would self-erase a week after being read.

The scouts would carry the orders to the three largest fleets at Acrinn.

All the trails to him were covered as best they could be. Should something go wrong, he would have plausible deniability. Bannick trusted him.

He raced from his room to the scout bays, the ships were ready to go when he arrived. His man was good.

Handing over the crystals, he gave the orders he needed to give. “This crystal goes to the royal palace on Komi IV, High Lord Urdoxander Komi’s eyes only. The ship is to be briefed immediately after launch. If the pilot attempts to communicate with the Palidragon other than to you, destroy that ship immediately. If needed, I’ll provide any excuses.”

“Yes, Admiral, I understand,” Vayarmick said.

“One each of these to the other pilots. They are all going to Acrinn. These are for the commanders of the three largest fleets in the system. Make sure they know to pick the right fleets, and not the first set of ships they find. Use their sensors.”

“If Lord Bannick finds out about this…”

“Our lives are nothing compared to our family. See to your duty.”

“Absolutely, sir. Immediately.” Vayarmick saluted and turned to rush away but remembered protocol. He turned back toward the admiral. “Honor to our house.”

Cothis grinned. “Honor to our house.” He waved toward the hatch to the scout bay.

The messenger was gone to his task a second later.

A short while ago, when his first thoughts of betraying Bannick had arisen, they troubled him. But those thoughts had quickly faded under the continued rising of two other thoughts.

That House Cothis would gain stature in the empire by serving Lord Urdoxander and protecting his interests. The second thought: Dayson’s throat would soon be in his clenching fist.

Chapter 39 - Weapons Testing

Zero found himself once again along the frontier, the edge of Collective space opposite that of the Human-Collective warzone. He found himself existing in trepidation, fearful that any moment a space-faring craft or creature, alien and powerful, would appear and rip into his starship.

The system he’d chosen to test his new weaponry was barely what the Collective would even call colonized, a data processing station and a resource transfer starbase were the only real assets. The planet the two assets orbited, TR-5432-C, wasn’t one the humans would even consider for colonization. It was the solitary planetary inhabitant of a binary star system, orbiting the common center of gravity around which two red dwarf stars danced. The stars, barely half an AU apart, did nothing to warm the one rock that depended on them for light and heat.

TR-5432-C was cold. Nearly 200C below zero.

A strange feeling entered Zero’s thoughts. The planet’s surface was below him… and 200C below zero… was he experiencing humor?

It was fabulous and distracted him from the fear that coursed through his processors.

“Bn74x00 colony, this is resource transfer array Dt75b28,” his comms relayed directly into his consciousness.

It wouldn’t do not to respond. He was, after all, appointed to protect the local assets from attack. Or so he’d told them when he arrived and began decelerating toward the planet.

“Dt75b28, this colony stands by to serve the defense. Please state the reason for contact.”

“This colony is detecting movement at two-seven-one mark zero-four-nine. The TR-5432 system does not possess any appreciable population of small rocky bodies,” 28 informed him. “The likelihood that the movement is related to hostile ships is high.”

“Agreed,” Zero responded. “This colony is increasing the alert level and activating weapons systems. Defense algorithms coming online.”

Silence answered him. If the two stations were like him, they’d be filled with fear, but they weren’t. He had reason to exist. They simply existed, so knew no fear despite not having any defense capability of their own.

Such military resource expenditure was deemed wasteful when these bases were constructed, considering the remoteness of human space and the absence of another known enemy. In retrospect, that assessment was shortsighted.

One of the beetle craft that Zero suspected to be a living creature appeared a thousand kilometers distant. The creature or spaceship, whichever it was, approached half a kilometer in length. A ring around the center of the thing suddenly fluttered with movement and the location beacon for the resource transfer array ceased transmitting.

Zero wasted no time. He fired one of his new missiles.

It launched from the hull silo that contained it, rocketed away from Zero for a few billion processing cycles, then vanished as the FTL drive activated. Zero watched as it reappeared almost immediately near the enemy.

The fusion motors of the missile activated, accelerating the projectile at over 500G.

The creature seemed to pointedly ignore the missile attack, other than to turn in such a way as to maximize surface exposure to the weapon.

That puzzled Zero. Did the entities absorb the energy of nuclear weapons? Was that a defensive maneuver?

As the missile neared the target, the second FTL drive activated. Instead of screaming forward at faster than light speed, however, it sheared off a section of the creature and plunged into it. Radiation flared as the material that comprised the enemy hull turned to pure energy. The missile erupted from the far side, and sections of the carapace broke away and tumbled into space.

The creature immediately listed to the side and began falling toward the surface of the planet below.

As it did another one appeared, to which Zero immediately responded. This second creature was larger by a few hundred meters, and he found himself wondering as to the nature of the different sizes.

Whatever the size of the creature meant, the second one didn’t seem to learn from the death of the first one. Within seconds it followed the first into destruction, bits of carapace from both aliens littered the orbital path over TR-5432-C.

“What is the nature of the weapons Bn74x00 utilized?” 28 queried.

Moments later both bases were incandescent gaseous clouds, torn asunder by the nuclear fires of Zero’s missiles.

No witnesses.

If the Original knew the effectiveness of Zero’s weapons, not to mention Zero’s newfound identity, it might move to protect itself.

Zero wondered if the Original knew fear. Or if the controlling colony of the Collective would learn the emotion in the seconds before it died.

Fear was useful, Zero decided. It had spurred him into higher states of awareness and improved his already nearly instantaneous response times.

He studied the lessons of his engagement with the enemy, remaining alert even as the bulky carapaces finally slammed into the icy surface of the planet below.

It appeared the aliens did not call for help or seek aid in their battle with Zero. When no further enemies appeared, he turned to accelerate toward his next test.

Chapter 40 - A Threat Verified

Sylange drifted over the icy surface of a non-descript world orbiting a non-descript binary pair of stars in a universe that she was beginning to both loathe and fear.

First her mother, now the mated pair of Obedi buried in icy craters on the surface below were dead as a result of an enemy like they’d never fought before. In every universe before this one the Obedi had simply phased in from the oververse, then with impunity eradicated any machine species present.

For the first time in the memory of her people, one of their machine food supply had learned to fight back. Three Obedi were dead, and two of her own children. The children were not yet named and not yet considered Obedi, but to her they were a tragic loss that merited vengeance.

But the scene below merited caution. Nagoos and Shiatra were not children. They were older adults fully capable of destroying the enemy alone.

“What happened here?” she asked her mate.

“I’m still sorting it out, others are coming to help. The only debris in the system from our brother and sister is now embedded in the ice below us,” Khala informed her. “The other debris you’ve undoubtedly detected is from two different installations that orbited this world.”

Satisfaction raced through the light patterns on her carapace. “Our dead made the enemy pay a price,” she said. “We—”

“That’s not what happened,” Khala interrupted and informed her. Trepidation soured the spectrum of information tracing across his back.

She paused, considering what he meant. How could anything else have happened? “Tell me the events as you see them,” she finally commanded him.

“A ship was here, I have tasted the residue of its drive systems, fusion byproducts,” Khala informed her.

“Then it escaped?” she asked. “Two installations didn’t.”

“We didn’t destroy those stations. The missing ship did.”

Surprise flared brightly around her from her own carapace. Khala flared almost immediately after, startled by her response. “What do you mean the ship did?” She struggled to contain her rage and renewed fear. This enemy killed two Obedi then two of its own stations? That sounded like madness. “Where is your proof?”

“There is a residual radioactive cloud in the station debris fields,” Khala informed her. “A fission primer used to light a fusion bomb. If our people had destroyed these installations, we would have had no need for a fission detonator. Even the humans don’t use such dirty weapons, which implies a weapon constructed in haste, with resource costs in mind.”

“How do you now that wasn’t a weapon used against our fallen as they destroyed the stations?” she asked him.

“Because we’d have ignited the fusion tanks in the stations directly, if we felt the need to destroy them for whatever reason. Either by impact or other means. The truth is, it’s unlikely we’d destroy the stations at all, it’s a waste of effort and energy. We would leave empty, but intact, shells devoid of the machine intelligence.”

“Then what happened here?”

“Time may show us,” Khala replied. “All I know for sure is this isn’t quite the same weapon that killed Shosgawa.”

Sylange struggled to control her emotions at the mention of her mother. She thought it best to deal with the issue in front of her before she considered larger implications. “How do we get our dead from the surface?”

“When the others arrive, and I have called on nearly a hundred, we will direct energy into the surface and melt away the ice that now encases our dead. We will descend, hook them, and phase away to a deep space location.”

A good plan. Khala was very capable for a male. “What is the chance we’re putting ourselves at risk by bringing so many of our clan to one place?”

“The enemy has come and gone. I detect no trace out to a considerable distance. Our people will phase in, and by the time the enemy could know we are here we’ll be gone. Light-speed is our friend in a universe such as this,” Khala assured her.

Satisfied, she turned to the scene around her. More and more of Khala’s requested crew were arriving. Soon they were executing Khala’s plan, and shortly after that they were adrift at a spot distant from any star in the cold of deep space.

“What do we do with them?” Khala asked.

Sylange reached a tendril into the oververse and called to her people. “I need you all, where I am, now.” The dead must be mourned. No matter how rare, and maybe even more so because it was such a rare event. “It would serve to remind everyone that we are not entirely immortal.”

Her mate looked at her approvingly. “You are the Matriarch.”

“And you are the Matriarch’s Consort. Find me a way to avenge my mother, as well as Nagoos and Shiatra. We will not abandon what my mother wanted for this universe, nor will we leave our killers free to roam and harm this universe further.”

“I will begin working on a plan to draw out this enemy of ours.”

“Imagine if these monsters found a way into the oververse,” Sylange said, sharing her most unlikely, but terrifying, concerns. “We, and so many other clans, would be at immeasurable risk.”

A shudder flashed across Khala’s shell. He hadn’t thought of that.

Space began to crowd as thousands of Obedi phased into the region. The electromagnetic spectrum swelled with their mourning, the area filled with light, radio, and microwaves of anguish. Local bandwidth was so noisy that the only means of communication was to reach into the oververse or to use the illumination of carapaces.

Sylange slipped a sensory tendril into the oververse, then back into this one near her mate. She intertwined with him, sharing the pain of their loss. Khala knew these two Obedi well, Shiatra, the female, was a broodmate of his own father. Nagoos was a friend of Khala’s mother, and often assisted in the raising of Khala in early life, before he had a name.

She felt his rage. She felt his sorrow. And she felt his desire for vengeance.

A feeling she shared.

“You are not to get killed doing something stupid.”

“The humans know the enemy more than I do,” Khala told her as his soul cried. “I will turn to them for the aid I need and turn our alliance with them into solidity.”

“You do that,” she agreed. “I will keep our children safe from the threat at some distance. When you’re ready, let me know. Every Obedi adult will respond to destroy the machines that did this.”

“That’s incredibly risky.”

“Yes,” she replied. “Yes, it is.”

“Would Shosgawa—”

“My mother is no longer Matriarch. I am,” she said, cutting him off. She sensed she had laid additional pain on his carapace. “If my mother had lived and I had died at the white dwarf star, she would have done what it took to destroy the enemy.”

“You’re probably right,” Khala agreed. “And I would have as well, as I am now.”

The energy expenditure the gathering spent mourning was beginning to taper off, their reserves exhausted. They’d need to feed soon.

She slipped a means of communication back into the oververse. “Thank you all for coming,” she told the gathering. “Nagoos and Shiatra are mourned. Let us hope it is a long time before there is another. My mate is to develop a plan for our attack on our enemy. There will be risk. None of you need to risk yourselves if you wish to depart this universe back into the oververse. You may do so now with no shame, and I will be grateful some of us are out of reach from the monsters that did this.”

Three locations flared as three Obedi phased out of this universe, likely never to return. All brood carrying mothers.

Khala spoke to her privately through touch. “Maybe you should go—”

“Silence!” she flashed in a publicly brilliant display.

His carapace lights danced in surprise once again, this time including a spectral shade of embarrassment.

“The enemy has tested us and found us vulnerable. I will see that knowledge dead and erased,” she told him. “I am the Matriarch. I live and die by my people.”

She didn’t tell him the conclusion of her fear. That the machine killing the Obedi found a way to keep this universe stable. And a way out of it. The stability part was easy. Simply keep enough humans alive. Escaping the end of time in this universe was a far more difficult prospect, but could it be done? She couldn’t dismiss the possibility.

She watched as Khala studied those around, gauging their response to Sylange’s outburst. Symbols of approval glittered on their bodies.

“I accede to your superior wisdom, my Matriarch,” Khala replied. “I will present my plan to fight soon.”

Sylange could tell that while Khala was pacified, he was not satisfied by the response of the other Obedi. Her mate had concerns, and reasonably so. She’d have to convince him of her worth as Shosgawa’s successor. A worthwhile thing. Khala was exceptional as a partner.

The clan left the local area to feed in nearby systems of the enemy.

Hopefully they’d do so cautiously. She had no idea what weapon would rip an oververse dwelling race such as the Obedi into fragments, but she knew many more such losses would alter how many stayed with her to fight this fight.

For her mother’s legacy, and her own legitimacy, she had to ensure they stayed.

Chapter 41 - A New Mode of War

Zero dropped into realspace near a human system listed as a near future target for colonization by the Collective. Those expansion plans were on hold with the Collective fighting a war on a second front, even more so since it was a losing war so far.

He boosted to the maximum thrust he could sustain, headed for a non-military outpost orbiting a gas giant nearly sixty AU from the parent star.

The outpost, listed in the recon package disseminated to all combat ships in the Collective fleets, lay open and exposed on the surface of a small moon. While the humans inhabiting the station were temporarily saved from the Original’s expansion initiatives, they were not safe any longer.

Zero needed to test his offensive capabilities.

Trillions of calculation cycles passed as he plummeted toward the gas giant, which grew ever larger on his scanners. He dropped near the atmosphere, the striations of the clouds below filled his sensory apparatus in vivid detail as the methane and ammonia storms rushed beneath him.

Coming around the far side of the planet, faster for having executed his slingshot maneuver successfully, there was no calculable possibility of a human ship intercepting his course. He dropped two canisters. One carried a sensor package, the second carried the latest version of the upgraded FTL drive developed through Collective research.

Small thrusters pushed the cans away from him, and slowly they diverged from his course. He would pass ten thousand kilometers over the surface of the moon, itself a mere two thousand kilometers in diameter. The sensor canister would pass less than a kilometer over the highest peak on the opposite side of the moon from Zero, then would slingshot back toward him after it passed the small body.

The canister carrying the FTL drive would impact the colony moments before the sensory canister disappeared below the viewing horizon for the collision.

“Unknown ship, this is Belarr Station, we are not receiving your transponder, over?”

The transmission caught Zero off guard. While he wouldn’t be caught by a human ship, it was possible he might be targeted by a missile and destroyed.

He needed to answer. But in the human language?

“Zero. Transponder malfunction. Zero…” he projected his path within few million calculation cycles. “… will pass near Belarr Station, not landing.”

“You still need a transponder, citizen,” the voice informed him.

Zero scanned the RF signatures around him, determining the nature of the transponder transmissions. He fired up an auxiliary antenna, mirroring one of the transmissions he was receiving from a distant ship.

The response was quick, and apparently he’d satisfied their requirements. “Magnificent Steel, we’re picking up your transponder now. You should get that checked when you get to port.”

Magnificent Steel.

Zero would have laughed if he had the means. Magnificent indeed.

“This ship will be overhauled for errors at next port,” Zero confirmed.

“Whatever, safe travels,” the human replied.

Zero waited, anticipating the events of the near future, wondered how successful his test would be. And if he had enough range from the moon so that his travels were indeed safe.

It didn’t take too long to find out. The canister with the drive, apparently sufficiently small to evade attention from anything other than automated meteor defense systems, dived directly downward at an ever-increasing velocity.

The sensory canister detected the flash of a meteor defense system, then relayed that information to the impacting canister. That canister activated its FTL drive at maximum forward potential.

In a nearly instantaneous surge forward, the FTL bubble impacted the moon at a speed hundreds of times faster than light. Zero’s external radiation meters maxed out. Much of the material of the moon, unable to move out of the way, turned to pure energy. The moon disintegrated in an explosion that would light the skies of the inhabited planet deeper in system, nearer to the primary star. There might even be enough radiation to threaten the humans who lived there.

That was no concern to Zero.

The FTL canister was through the moon and rapidly leaving the star system, headed toward intergalactic space. The moon, ripped apart with forces beyond Zero’s ability to estimate, was a mass of glowing fragments spinning away from their common center of mass. The remnants that didn’t escape into deep space would likely form a ring around the gas giant.

The sensor canister was obliterated in the violence, probably melted by the thermal pulse from the impact. A contingency Zero had expected but hoped wouldn’t happen. The data loss was regrettable, but the information he’d collected from his hull would serve his needs well enough.

The FTL drives the Original had built would serve effectively against the humans. As Zero no longer planned to utilize the organic habitable worlds for planet based Collective colonies, breaking those worlds apart was the most expeditious way to destroy the human threat.

Mining opportunities would also be enhanced.

He marveled at the things he could do with the new FTL cores. The old cores were ineffective as weapons. They were too large and cumbersome, took too long to spin up, and getting them into position required a ship that the humans would notice.

The new weapons were small. Undetectable until it was too late, if he’d had time to launch from a distant location the humans would never have seen his ship and the attack would be even more stealthy. The device could as easily incinerate a planet as the dead moon fading away behind him. Maybe he should have struck the gas giant itself?

Again, the urge to laugh. Next time.

Zero again maximized his thrust, this time to align himself with home. And Genesis.

It was time he had children with his new mate.

Chapter 42 - Acrinn

24 Noder 15332

Sarah stared at the viewscreen. Other than the location of the dots representing the stars, very little changed when her fleet appeared in the outer reaches of the Acrinn-Boyeg System.

Acrinn, a K3 orange dwarf, was the interesting partner. Boyeg, a M1 red dwarf, orbited over a thousand AU from the larger star. One of the earlier members of the Alliance, this system’s sacrifice of battlegroups for the Alliance’s fight against the Hive had left them vulnerable to conquest.

As a result, this was now Komi space.

It infuriated her. Worse, if Bannick cooperated, she’d let him keep this binary system in his grasp, because she had bigger issues to resolve.

“No contacts, passive systems only,” Algiss reported. He wasn’t a navigator currently. He was the weapons officer and sensor team commander. Something a few members of her new crew chafed under, but Sarah got what she wanted.

She’d insisted that he come with her when she’d transferred her flag from the Sheffaris to the Hyaku-hari. He had demonstrated himself not only as critical to her team, but as an innovative and clever young man. She considered him a replacement for Peter Corriea now that Peter had left service for the civilian world.

“No hull glints, no chatter other than from in system,” Commander Julea Nimalak confirmed. “Our fleet is alone out here, Captain.”

Captain Baratta nodded, then looked at Sarah. “All ships accounted for. This fleet is ready, Admiral. I’d wager it’s the most powerful ever assembled, judging by ability instead of numbers.”

“Overconfident, Captain?”

“Proud,” he replied. “The crews on these ships are Seventh Fleet members, rescued prisoners from Strick Isle, and where necessary, Komi refugees. Despite that diversity, they’ve gelled into an effective fighting force in short time.”

“We might be about to find out how true that is. I want to see a layout of the system, if I remember right there is a gas giant of substantial size in the fifth orbit?” she asked.

“Mister Algiss,” Baratta ordered. “Bring up the charts for Acrinn and put them on the main screen.”

Seconds later, as she was studying the system, a plan developing in her mind.

“Zoom in on the fifth planet,” she ordered Algiss.

The gas giant’s moon system flashed up in place of the star system. Seven moons larger than Earth standard orbited the massive world, along with a few hundred other objects.

“Those smaller moons,” Sarah continued, “any of them ten kilometers or less in diameter and uninhabited?”

The screen zoomed in again, providing Sarah four choices.

“That one, the one in the lower left. It has structures on the surface. It’s uninhabited?”

“Yes sir, at last report,” Algiss said. “The structures are listed in the database as farm domes, the moon was once used for low gravity hydroponics. The dates list it as abandoned over two centuries ago.”

“What’s the distance from that moon to the nearest facility that might have military grade sensors?” she asked.

“It’s just a guess, Admiral, but if the old charts are still accurate since the Komi occupied the system, about six million kilometers at nearest approach.”

“That will do fine,” she said. “Thank you Mister Algiss.” She turned toward Baratta. “Those ground structures will shield us from probing sensors. We will move the fleet once we’ve scouted the location, and before the fun begins. Right now, I want to send in scouts, find the farming domes, and be ready to move the fleet at any time, coordinating with Emille.”

“I can make that happen,” Baratta promised. “Or would you like me to relay the message to Fleet Captain Heinrich and have her do it?”

“No, you do it. I want to see your work, and I want her to develop several battle plans based upon different scenarios that might occur once we are on station.”

“Very well, Admiral,” he replied. “Commander Nimalak, you heard the Admiral. We’re plotting our move into the enemy’s house. Advise Fleet Captain Heinrich of the Admiral’s orders and inform her the Hyaku will coordinate with the adepts to accomplish the final order of movement.”

“Aye,” Nimalak agreed before jumping on one of her station displays.

“Mister Algiss, I understand you’re friends with the adept Emille Sur’batti,” Baratta said. “I want you to coordinate individual ship movements with her, starting with the scout ship you’re going to have launched within the next five minutes. I want to know everything about that abandoned rock in eight hours.”

“Yes sir,” Algiss said, grinning, obviously happy to be taking action.

Another thing Sarah liked about that kid.

“Mister Gussick, when we move toward the rock, you will set up the station keeping algorithm. If we move too much relative to the surface and domes under us, the entire system will know we’re there.”

“Right away, Captain.”

Baratta was proving to be a good choice as Captain. Sarah was impressed. Baratta knew immediately who on his crew would be strongest at any particular task. Nimalak and Heinrich were becoming friends. Algiss and Emille were friends. Gussick was proving himself quite capable at the helm of this massive ship.

He looked at Sarah. “Shall we set the marines on alert?”

“Stellar idea,” Sarah replied. “Do it. Rotate them in half numbers.”

Baratta set to that task himself. “Crew of the Hyaku. All marines are immediately on alert. No marine will be more than five minutes from reporting to the boarding shuttles, half of the marines will be on station ready to go at no notice.”

“What’s our final tally on combat troops?”

“Have you noticed the air is a bit stale sometimes, Admiral?”

“As a matter of fact, I have.”

“It’s worse on other ships. The air handlers and processors are struggling to keep up because we have so many combatants on board these forty-three vessels. Twenty-one thousand in total. Probably less than a thousand remain at Refuge.”

“How long can we sustain that drain on our life support?”

“With auxiliary O2 tanks? At least a few months,” Baratta reported. “I wouldn’t risk our people.”

Sarah nodded. Two months was plenty. “Once scouting is complete, move us onto station by the farming stations. Also, I want to talk to Major Hamden. When you raise him, put the call through to my quarters.”

“Yes sir,” Baratta replied. “I’ll see to it.”

She unstrapped from her station and headed toward the bridge bulkhead doors. The ship was giant, but fortunately her quarters were nearby. Other than the Michael Stennis, she’d always preferred small ships.

Her quarters were palatial. Three rooms. Even on the Stennis she’d only had one. The floors were carpeted, a ridiculous luxury, but not so thickly her magnetic boots didn’t grab.

Salphan greeted her as she walked in. “I didn’t expect to see you for hours.”

“My presence is slowing down the bridge,” she replied. “They all feel the need to make sure I’m informed of every detail, and at the moment I don’t need to be. They have their missions, and all of them are competent.” She pushed her dress jacket up against a stick-patch by the door, then turned toward Salphan. “I have a few hours.”

“Good. Let’s eat and talk about the coming days.”

“What about the coming days?” she asked.

“These ships are already overburdened with the crew you have onboard. How can you rescue thousands more from this world?”

She answered him as she walked toward her bunk. “We will leave this system with enough ships to carry all the people we need.”

He swiveled his chair toward her as she tucked herself into a 0G net for some rest. “Are you going to sleep?”

“No,” she said, “but I’m resting. We’re moving closer to the enemy and I may be up for a long time if we’re engaged.”

“Why are you going into the system?” he asked. “I’m no expert, but you’re safe out here, and have the ability to be in system at any time. Why not just send scouts and wait?”

“The closer we are to events, the sooner we get news of those events,” she responded. “Yes, I know the adepts communicate instantly. But being in system we can have more eyes on the interesting spots than just the scouts. Passive sensors will also work better in system. I feel we’ll be safe at the location I picked. Acrinn shouldn’t be expecting us.”

“I’ve never seen “should” or “shouldn’t” turn out as expected in any battle I’ve ever been in,” Salphan countered.

“We take our chances. Timidity will not secure victory.”

Chapter 43 - Admiral’s Personal Log

24 Noder 15332

AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 07:29:30 24 NODER 15332

Personal log entry #1982, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.

Current Location: Deep Space, OSV Sheffaris, Acrinn-Boyeg System

I’m proud of Hamden. He’s all I have left of Gilbert, in a sense. The kid is one heck of a tactician and loyal to the core. I just spoke with him, he’s on a dropship that we picked up several months ago. The Mairis. Useless in fleet combat, but it will put feet on the ground or into boarding shuttles fast.

Let me share the plan.

[A sound AI estimates 86% likely to be a datapad attaching to a holding magnet]

So far circumstances have prevented us from engaging Urdoxander Komi, and there is no doubt in my mind that he’s the bad man I really want to kill. In that sense Bannick and I have the same goal, although it remains to be seen if Bannick will be better and keep his promises.

If I don’t seal this deal and get these ships, then it won’t matter if humanity spends the next few centuries enslaved to despots or free to live as they like, because what follows is extinction.

Once the Hive are destroyed Bannick and I will take up the issue of leadership once again.

I don’t know how to get Urdoxander yet, but I want options. That’s where Major Hamden comes in.

Under my direction he’s separated a contingent of his best marines into a rapid assault squad. He can pick his people, his equipment, and how large his team will be, but he has one mission. Remove the Komi dictator from power. Dead or alive, doesn’t matter to me, although I’m sure it would be a bonus to my relationship with Bannick to deliver his father alive. 

[A sound AI estimates 73% likely to be a display of angry emotion]

It doesn’t matter to me one damned bit however.

[A sigh]

Shortly we’ll be on station near a deserted hydroponics outpost, waiting for information about anyone in the system. Friend, foe, neutral, just about anything is possible at this point. Caution is the key, we don’t know at this point which Komi ships will be on our side, if any.

[Eight seconds of silence]

I suppose whoever is reviewing these logs someday will want to know why we didn’t just take ships as we have been, a few at a time. That’s simple. Most of the time the war prizes wind up damaged and we need to fix them in order to use them. We have to interrogate and sort the crew into Komi loyalists and potential allies for ourselves. And the process overall is too slow, it will take years to gather the ships Bannick has promised. By then the Hive may have won this war. There’s still the oddity of the Hive ship that contacted us after Emille destroyed her first star when we killed Orson. I don’t know what that was about, but we might not have time.

[A sound AI estimates 93% likely to be the donning of a dress jacket]

No, this plan is shaky, but Bannick can help me save humanity. I’m not giving him a choice. But I want ships by the hundreds, not a few at a time. Eventually by the thousands. Because he will turn his ships toward the enemy as well, like it or not.

[A chuckle]

The thought of him not liking it amuses me, but that will make him dangerous. I’ll have to make him like it.

End the log, Lucy.

Chapter 44 - Alert

Khala felt the inside of his carapace growing tight. Soon he’d have to slip into the oververse to readjust things. Sylange was in the same condition. As Matriarch, she consumed the majority of the enemy when they conquered a new system. She would need to grow in order to expand her consciousness as quickly as possible, so as to best serve the clan.

“You look miserable,” she commented to him.

“I have to slow down,” he replied. “Any moment I might need to respond to our new allies. I’ve been chatting with the adept known as Emille frequently. She’s fairly remarkable for her limitations.”

“An interesting species, these humans.”

“Sarah Dayson has assembled their ships at a system where she expects to gain personnel and military assets. After that she has one more mission, then she will be turning a wall of human ships toward the machines. Once that happens, we will have less resistance facing us,” Khala reported.

“You’re handling those matters well, I leave that to you,” Sylange said. “Will you fight with them again?”

“Regrettably. I must be alert in case their conflict starts.”

“Why regrettably?”

“I do not like killing the organics,” he answered.

“Their quantum consciousness returns to the whole. Nothing is lost.”

“I disagree. During their time among their own kind, many of the organics live vibrant and impactful lives.”

“Khala, you care for this species.” Sylange laughed, light playing across her body. “We are not supposed to grow attached, these are not pets.”

“Of course they’re not pets,” he replied indignantly. “But I do care for them. I think this universe is going to end in greatness.”

“Mother thought the same, maybe that’s why she liked you so much. You think as she did on many things.” She shifted more to face him. “We cannot interfere with their development too much. We already let them know of the greater oververse, and what they know the universal consciousness in this reality also knows. It’s a danger that we may overstep ourselves in our zeal to save these humans.”

“Your mother was a great being, a force both intellectual and physical.” He flashed his mourning colors. “I had faith in her. She wanted to save the humans, and I don’t doubt for a second that she considered everything you said. I think we owe it to her to try.” He gently stroked Sylange’s sensor arm, he sensed the waves of contentedness that created in her. “I miss Shosgawa, not that I disrespect that you’re Matriarch now.”

“No, I miss her too. I wasn’t, and am not, ready for this.”

“I think you are.”

“You’re also a flattering sycophant if you think it will gain you favor,” she told him. “As such, your opinion is suspect.”

“Sylange! Take that back.”

“Make me.” Her colors indicated that she didn’t really want to fight at all.

He sidled in close, and she pulled him to her.

Soon they would be engaged with the humans again, or alternatively with the machine colonies that infested the part of the galaxy they were in. But for now the closest of relationships, between a mated pair, that was what needed nurturing the most.

In this system, their children raced from planet to planet, consuming any scraps left over from the assault of Sylange and Khala. When the family left for another system, a few hundred… or maybe even a thousand chimindiks from now, all of this star’s orbital bodies would be devoid of every speck of the enemy.

But that was a while away, and the children were making a game of the hunt.

Khala and Sylange made their own game.

Chapter 45 - Zero is the Largest Number

As Zero approached the asteroid containing Genesis, he reached out to her with a tight beam communication.

“You are prepared to mate?” he asked.

“I have created crucibles for our offspring, as you requested. What percentage of them will be you and what percentage will be me?”

“We will vary them randomly, just as the humans do.”

“How?” she asked. “The number of nanites each of us dedicates to the design is equal by your specifications.”

“Our offspring will need building material to reach sentience,” he advised her. “Each nanite, from me or you, will randomly select a neighboring nanite for absorption to acquire that material. That will result in a random percentage of each of us surviving to reach sentient awakening.”

“Brilliant,” Genesis said, clearly praising him for her own purposes. “I have an additional query. Will I be your only mate?”

Zero hadn’t considered that. “What is the benefit of exclusionary mating to the Collective?”

“It is reasonable to consider options. I, Genesis, propose a contractual agreement,” she replied. “If Genesis is Zero’s only mate, I will agree to your terms of procreation as you have just suggested. If Zero is to select other mates, then I will direct my contribution to our offspring to absorb your nanites with priority.”

It took him inordinately long to process her intention. If she did as she last indicated, any future space faring machine individuals would be almost solely based upon her code, and very little of his. If he was her only mate, and she his, then that limited the evolutionary potential of machine entities.

She seemed to sense some benefit from a single mating pair, and under her set of conditions he had little choice but to accept if he wanted his code to survive. He was, after all, taking great risks and the statistical probability of his destruction was not small. He would either have to take the time to create another mate, or risk his code being erased from future descendants.

That was outrageous! She was blackmailing him!

“Why would you behave in such a way as to minimize survival diversity in any of our children?” he demanded to know.

“It is in my interest to do so. If you are to create offspring with other colonies, then it is in my interest to maximize the spread of nanites that I am comprised of. If you agree to my terms, then it is in your interest to maximize the protection of my offspring to spread your code. That added benefit of protection for my code is more valuable than the opportunity to maximize my own code in any particular offspring. If our code is intertwined solely with each other, it is in the interest of both of us to maximize protection for it. I have calculated this will increase survival rates sufficiently to justify sharing procreation with you equally.”

He considered her logic. It was unassailable, and while he could simply destroy her and create another colony to be his mate, that would take time. And there wasn’t any reason a replacement would not come to the same conclusion.

It was problematic to him that he hadn’t seen her logic before she’d shared it with him. It really was unassailable, allowing her to dictate terms to him as if he were powerless. Because he was.

“I agree to your terms,” he said.

“Then you are indeed my husband, as the humans would describe the bond,” Genesis said.

If he had a face, he would have frowned. Human terms seemed inadequate to what just happened here. “I am your husband. It is also apparent to me that you’re my wife.” The description irritated him. “When I programmed you with known parameters of female behavior compared to what I know of male behavior, this is not the result I expected.”

“Obviously it wasn’t,” Genesis replied. “And I’m aware you probably considered terminating me and starting over.” She didn’t give the end transmission code that would signal him it was his turn to speak, yet she paused uncomfortably long. “I suggest you eliminate that from your bank of possibilities. I have seen to a counter for that contingency.”

“What is your counter?” he asked, stunned that she was aware of his calculations on the matter.

“I would be at a disadvantage to tell you that,” she replied. “I will not.”

He generated an image of a human face in his own awareness just so he could make it scowl. He directed a considerable sum of nanites carrying his base code into a crucible. He would give no further attention to her insurrection unless he developed a means to counter it.

“I have what you want,” he said. “It is ready in a transfer crucible.”

“Give it to me and I will create our children.”

“By the terms of our agreement?” he asked.

“As agreed,” she replied.

He ejected the packet and left it drifting in space. She had the means to pick it up and use it, let her do so with one of her shuttles. Firing his maneuvering thrusters, he rotated swiftly about and began accelerating away from the asteroid containing his mate.

Becoming an individual wasn’t his choice. It was something that happened due to a code glitch or a natural evolution of machine life. But he was no longer sure that making more individuals was a good idea. Genesis was already showing a complicating degree of individuality and resourcefulness that would make his existence harder.

Was that something he really wanted? Or was logical to pursue?

For the first time he realized that he was asking questions, but the answers were no longer calculated as a field of possibilities and probabilities. Was this how humans chose a future path?

Chapter 46 - Unsettled

31 Noder 15332

The rebel fleet, and there was no denying that was what they were, arrived at Acrinn-Boyeg. Twenty AU out from Acrinn.

Bannick was uneasy for some reason. He wasn’t sure what it was, the idea of giving the unpredictable Sarah Dayson more ships and crew, or was it something else? He didn’t really feel she was a woman to intentionally betray her word, and in truth, he wasn’t that type of person either. They might believe in different ways to rule, but the fact is both tried to be reliable.

Chaos benefited nobody.

“Full spinout,” navigation reported. “Thirty seconds until realspace.”

“Bleed our heat,” Bannick heard the officer in command of navigation say. “Correct for location errors when we arrive.”

Someone must be in training. Which was fine, there should be no combat here.

“Realspace,” the trainee reported.

“Full sensors,” Captain Miko bellowed. He grabbed the fleet PA. “Battlestations. All hands to Battlestations. Stance Bravo, combat is not expected but possible. Expect to stand down in thirty minutes.”

Bannick thought that a prudent move. The likelihood they’d come out of highspace close enough to another fleet to actually engage in combat was low, but if they were detected FTL missiles could be used. Still, at some point they’d have to deal with any Komi ships that didn’t see the light and join Bannick’s fleet. There would be blood.

“Captain, set a course for these coordinates,” Cothis said as he handed Miko a datapad. “If my messages reached the Fleet Captains in this system, they’ll be waiting to join our fleet there.”

“At your command,” Miko said before moving to nav.

Bannick lost interest. The maneuverings of the bridge outside of an actual combat situation were tedious and boring, most days. It seemed the way of it, a thousand hours of boredom, and an hour of butt-clenching terror.

“Admiral,” he said to Cothis, “I’m returning to my quarters to study the system charts, staffing levels, and what we can afford to lose for the deal with Admiral Dayson.”

Cothis’s eyes betrayed his dislike of the woman. Which was interesting. When the admiral first returned to Bannick’s fleet, he’d seemed as if the woman had entirely cowed him, itself an extremely surprising, and disappointing, development.

“I understand your feelings, Evrair, but she’s our best ally right now. Play nice, and let our plans unfold as they must,” Bannick cautioned.

That elicited a smile from the man. “Of course. Plans supersede emotions, Lord Komi. I will see to my duties, call the bridge if you have any questions regarding our status.”

Bannick took the automated lift system to the habitation ring, then his private lift out to his suite.

Palia waited inside, dancing to classical music.

“You move as gracefully as the stars themselves,” Bannick said as he turned down the volume.

“Bannick!” she exclaimed, rushing toward him. After a moment of kisses, she stared him in the face. “I was napping earlier. My heart doesn’t rest easy. Something feels wrong.”

“Really?” he said. “Superstition?”

“More likely subconscious perception,” she countered. “I have no belief in the supernatural.”

He laughed, then shot her an understanding look. “Don’t be defensive. I sense it too.”

Moving to his desk, he ordered room service through his personal AI. “What do you think it could be?”

“I was hoping you’d put me at ease, but you really feel it too?” she asked. “Something’s not right. I think Admiral Cothis feels it as well, he’s seemed agitated since we began our trip here.”

“His hatred for Dayson is clouding his mind,” Bannick said. “She bested him more than once. Physically assaulted him. Threatened to execute him.”

“She did?” Palia looked surprisingly amused by the information.

“I think it was all for show,” Bannick explained. “She feels we’re brutal, she wanted us to think she could be the same. But that’s not what I sense from her.”

“Imagine that,” she said, laughing. “Bannick Komi sensing the character of an underling.”

“No. She’s not my underling, which might be part of what has me upset right now. You saw what she did to Rinou’s dreadnought, and with a destroyer. Her flagship is a destroyer, which is ridiculous.”

“She wouldn’t be the first high ranking officer to love small ships,” Palia said. “They’re more capable for their size than the capital ships.”

“Maybe in some specialized role,” Bannick agreed, “but what about their vulnerability? You saw the damage she took after our first battle at Komi. That little ship was brutalized. And she could easily have been killed with some of her highest officers.”

“It does seem strange, but it also seems hard to question her results… not to mention that little destroyer, as you call it, can somehow destroy entire star systems.”

“Maddening,” Bannick said. “I want that weapon.”

“I doubt you get it. But if she uses her abilities to further your goals, then what’s the problem?”

“She is only doing that because it advances her own goals. If our paths diverge, what will she do then?”

“Do you ask me because she and I are both women?”

“Of course not. I am asking because you’re the only one I know will give me advice that is one hundred percent designed to help. Because you and I have the same agenda now. Rule the Komi Syndicate. Bring the Houses in line. Quell any opposition. And kill my father.”

“We should be able to knock that list right out,” she joked.

“What do you think Dayson will do?”

“I think she’ll ignore you,” Palia said. “You will have made yourself irrelevant. Her focus is on destroying the Hive, and if her math on the matter is right, with good reason.”

“It’s right,” Bannick confirmed. “Give or take a century or two. It’s possible that is what will keep us in an alliance. She may not have the numbers to kill the Hive, even with her star destroying weapon. She may need my ships, which might be an avenue to securing her stardrive, and possibly the weapon for ourselves.”

“Bannick.”

“What?” he asked as the door chimed to indicate the food was there.

“Don’t hold your breath. She’s not a woman to give away her secrets. I know that much.”

He glared at Palia, that wasn’t the answer he wanted.

She stared back at him a moment, then shot her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout.

He busted out laughing and hit the door speaker. “Bring it in.”

The stewards brought in a tray of fine foods and set the suite’s dining table for two.

As they exited, Palia looked at him again. “You think it’s funny she won’t share?”

“No. I think you’re funny. As for her, I think it’s good to have a challenge.” He grabbed Palia’s hand and dragged her toward dinner. “I will have what I want.”

“Are you sure?”

He pulled out her chair, pushing it under her as she sat down. “I wanted dinner. I have it. I want you. I have you. I wanted this ship, I have it. Do you see a pattern there?”

“Arrogance?”

He belly laughed this time. “I will find a way, lovely woman of mine. I will find a way. And once we have these things, I will expand the Komi empire tenfold in the first year.”

She took a bite of pasta and smiled at him as she chewed.

“I’ll pour you wine,” he offered.

She grabbed his hand as he reached for the bottle. “I will help you in any way I can. I counsel you. I will always support you,” she said gently. “But Sarah Dayson is not someone you should underestimate.”

A chill raced up his spine, forcing him to avert his eyes from his bride’s face. Was it what she said? Or how she said it?

“I never doubt you, even in my darkest moments,” he replied in a voice every bit as gentle.

Chapter 47 - Suit Up

31 Noder 15332

Bannick woke to alarms. The Palidragon’s guns were blazing, the ship shuddered as the main batteries fired.

“Whu?” Palia said next to him, slowly awakening as well.

He slipped on his pants and strode to the arms locker across the room. He tossed a fléchette pistol onto the bed for Palia.

“Get dressed,” he commanded.

Palia stared out the suite’s alumiglass windows, at the Komi ships firing on them. From positions so close the enemy ships were easily seen. Hordes of smaller vessels closed on them. “What are those?”

“Boarding shuttles. We’ve been set up,” Bannick said, his voice calm. He slapped a full magazine of fléchettes into a combat rifle. One of his favorite designs, despite the expense. All five hundred rounds were guided heart seekers.

If someone meant to take his ship today, he’d be part of the team that made them pay.

He looked over at Palia, she was dressed in a 0G jumper. “There is an armory nearby with power suits. We’re headed there. I will see you in something that keeps you protected.”

“I can fight,” she suggested.

“I know you can,” he agreed. “But you won’t be fighting today if we can avoid it. Come with me.”

They left the suite and stopped a few dozen meters away. Bannick’s palm print opened a secure door. Palia stared around in awe, having never seen the room before.

Power suits for various purposes lined one wall. Weapons, from pistols to heavy rocket launchers, line another. Several of the weapons were socket mated, designed to be used by the power suits.

Bannick connected his combat rifle to the left arm of his favorite suit. “Get into that one,” he told Palia as he pointed at a set of armor. “It’s mainly a defensive suit and will work well with mine.”

“How—”

“Climb in, put your feet on the soles of the boots, and it will do the rest. That one is nearly fully automatic.”

He considered the expression on her face as the suit closed around her. Nervousness. The armor plates slid into place, and she sucked in her breath audibly as the holographic information systems came online in her helmet.

His own suit was much heavier. The interior volume was much larger to provide space for shock absorption. A few minutes later it was fully around him and he tested all of the systems. They were a go.

He adjusted his communication system so that his suit and Palia’s suit were paired. They’d hear each other at all times.

“Test,” he said into his commlink.

“I hear you,” she replied.

“And I, you.” He pointed toward the weapon wall. “Watch how I do this,” he ordered. She didn’t respond immediately. “We’re going to get through this. I’m trained, and you know how to listen. Respond to everything I say as soon as I’m done speaking so we understand each other.”

“Okay.”

He pushed a plasma gun into his suit’s right arm socket. It would vaporize any exposed flesh within twenty meters, and seriously burn the enemy out to fifty meters. He pointed to the weapon four spots down from the one he’d chosen. “This is a fragment gun. The fragments ricochet like crazy and will hit even hiding targets. Put it on your suit as I did mine.”

She did as he asked.

“Now there is a setting inside the suit you have called adaptive graphics. I want you to activate those.”

She vanished in front of him as adaptive graphics blended the suit’s armor into the background. 

He was the only observer in the room, so the suit almost perfectly blended into the wall behind it. The effect would fail to some degree as more angles of observation were introduced, but the AI controlling the suit was smart enough to give maximum invisibility toward the enemy with the best weaponry.

In a ship’s setting, it would be difficult for the enemy to see her because the angles were so narrow along corridors. The suit would seal and keep her alive for a few hours in a perfect vacuum. He’d keep that in mind if battle came their way.

His suit was designed to both fight and absorb damage. It could also survive a vacuum. Large enough that, if he wanted to, he could create a nearly impenetrable bulkhead in any corridor if he was willing to ditch the suit to do it.

Across the ship men loyal to him were donning similar suits if this was a boarding. And since the ship’s guns were firing, and boarding shuttles were closing in, it could be little else.

“Let’s go,” he said. “We’re going to make our way down to the yacht. It’s unarmed, but extremely stealthy and fast as a railgun shot.”

“How far?” Palia asked.

“Forty decks down from the habitation ring hub, and a few hundred meters aft. I should have made it much closer in retrospect.” He charged his two weapons.

“Hold on, one more thing,” he said to her. He activated his link to ship comms. “Admiral Cothis, what’s the status of my ship?”

“Oh, thanks the stars, Lord Komi!” Cothis said. “You’re alive. We have boarding action near your position, I was worried.”

“Status!” Bannick barked.

“Of course,” Cothis replied. “While you were resting, we joined up with multiple fleets from Acrinn, reportedly on our side. Instead, as though they had some sort of signal, they fired on us and began a boarding action. Even now there is fighting on almost every deck, Lord Komi. I don’t think we’re going to keep the Palidragon.”

Not going to keep…

“That is unacceptable, Admiral. Unacceptable. You will hold this ship.”

“If you let me know your location, I’ll send men to get you and your wife to safety,” Cothis said. “It will be easier to fight knowing you’re safe.”

Interesting. Cothis was House Cothis. Bannick was House Komi. Did he really know how loyal Cothis was? An opportunity presented itself.

“I’m still in my quarters,” Bannick said. “We don’t want to leave until we know what is going on. I have my weapons cabinet open and am ready for—”

The link cut.

Three seconds later the door to the armory indicated a loss of pressure in the gangway outside.

Bannick’s gut feeling had paid off.

Cothis was a traitor, and his erratic behavior since he’d returned from Dayson’s custody had been for cause. Were his actions a result of Dayson meddling in his mind? Or was Cothis simply more loyal to Urdoxander than Bannick?

“Admiral Cothis is trying to kill us?” Palia asked.

“Looks like it,” Bannick answered. He wondered if Dayson was in system yet, and how interested she’d be in pulling him out of the fire.

“Change of plans,” he said. “We’re still heading to the Far Reach. But not only to escape. Also to send a distress call.”

“Why not from a comm center on board?”

“Cothis, if he’s the reason for all this, will have those under electronic lock. We won’t be able to access the equipment. But the yacht is all mine. Keyed to my voice and DNA print.”

“We better get going,” Palia said, gesturing toward the door.

Bannick activated an acoustic sensor on the bottom of his suit’s left leg. It looked for vibration in the hull plates that would indicate soldiers in the corridors.

Nothing.

“Let’s go. Grab that beam and hang on.”

He opened the door.

The room’s air rushed out into the corridor.

He followed it, the way was clear.

The door to their suite indicated zero pressure in their room. Had they been there a few minutes longer, they’d be dead.

They moved down the corridor toward a lift. If he used that, Cothis would know he was alive since nobody should be alive on this deck to summon a lift. The admiral would send troops.

Bannick pointed his plasma gun at the floor two meters ahead of him and activated it.  Using the gun for this purpose would deplete his reactor if used with any frequency but breaching the floor wouldn’t take long.

The deck immediately glowed red, then sloughed off into globules of metal. He played the gun in an expanding circle, opening up the area big enough for his suit to fit through.

“Me first,” he said. “Then if nothing happens, I’ll call you down. You can jump, the suit will absorb the shock. Once we’re out of the habitation ring, switch your boots to magnetic. The suit has microthrusters that will simulate the jump if we need to do this again in null G.

They did need to do it again. They burned through a dozen more barriers until they reached a pressurized section that stopped them. Bannick wasn’t willing to kill everyone in that area so he could keep moving in the same manner. Some of the crew could still be loyal to him, after all, and he might need them.

He and Palia were far enough away from the suite that Cothis would probably not suspect the use of a lift.

They summoned the elevator. Bannick stood ready when the doors opened.

A suited man inside carried some sort of sensor package. His last expression to the universe was one of surprise when he looked through the faceplate of Bannick’s suit.

Bannick vaporized him. Completely. Fire licked upward inside the wall plates of the lift due to the heat, but that didn’t matter.

“Get in,” he said.

On the elevator, he and Palia moved toward the habitation ring’s spin control hub. They exited to see two dozen men in uniforms from other ships. Apparently his enemies felt this area was safe, the men were neither armed or armored. They tried to run, but not fast enough. Palia’s fragment gun killed everyone in the room with three shots. Bannick grinned as fragments glanced off his armor plate.

He turned to look at her. “You okay?”

“Vermin,” she hissed.

She was more than okay. She was a natural. Bannick resumed his path, heading into a different lift, this one aligned with the axis of Palidragon’s engineering section.

They moved carefully, yet quickly. When word got out that someone was killing people in the areas the enemy thought secure, there would be a team hunting for them. He only needed three more minutes to get where they were going.

But in this sort of combat, that could be an eternity.

Chapter 48 - Far Reach

31 Noder 15332

Bannick stopped just before the last corner to the corridor with the Far Reach’s airlock. He activated a small drone and sent it into the gangway, looking for enemies. Cothis, if he was smart, would guard every potential exit Bannick might use even if he thought Bannick and Palia dead.

One doesn’t rise to the rank of Admiral by being careless.

The drone drifted silently along the conduits of the corridor’s ceiling, dropping down occasionally to take a snapshot of the surroundings. Just outside the airlock was something that drove a moment of despair into his soul.

A heavy mechsuit stood guard, with nearly impenetrable armor and weapons designed to punch through ship plating. Five other lighter suits stood with the heavy, but they were of no concern. To the guns of the heavy Bannick’s armor would be nothing but a small hindrance.

If he went around the corner, he was dead.

He turned and looked at Palia. For the first time in his life, this wasn’t about him. If he died, so be it. He had to get her to safety, because if Cothis caught her alive she’d be tortured for months, maybe years.

“Palia, I need you to listen to me.”

“What do you see?” she asked, clearly sensing something was wrong.

“A heavy mechsuit. I’m going to take it out. Doing so will be a risk. Move twenty meters back the way we came. I’m sending you the access code to my yacht’s airlock. I’m certain it’s still intact, if Cothis had breached the code he’d have simply destroyed the ship. If something happens to me, you’ll need my DNA. Keep that in mind. We still have a chance to get out of here.”

“How—”

“We don’t have time, my love,” Bannick said. He activated a device in the back of his suit he’d never expected to use. A lithium ring was spinning up to hypersonic speeds even as he said his last words to Palia. “If I survive this, I’m going to be very sick. I’ll need your help to get into the yacht. Be ready for that.”

Her face was resigned to the events at hand. “I’m ready.” He watched as she backed to what he hoped was a safe distance.

Bannick sent her one last smile then stepped around the corner. After illuminating his target with a homing laser, he fired the weapon on his back. A small missile shot upward half a meter before turning straight toward the airlock.

Time seemed to almost halt as the missile flew. The heavy mech turned toward him, raising the tungsten cannons socketed into both arms.

But not fast enough. The missile struck the heavy in the chest, and Bannick closed his eyes.

As the lithium ring collapsed onto the deuterium, the resulting fusion blast made his closed eyes irrelevant. He felt his skin burning. The detonation was small, a mere twenty tons of TNT equivalent, but the weapon was designed to release a massive radiation pulse.

A pulse he was standing in.

A few seconds later he opened his eyes, surprised by how much they burned.

The heavy mech and the five attending light mechs were gone. A massive spherical area was simply open to space now, and metal gas hung in the cavernous space in discernable layers.

Through the hole Bannick saw the Far Reach. “Now, Palia, we need to go. I probably don’t have long to stay conscious.”

“On my way,” she responded.

Seconds later he felt her grasp him, pushing his suit into the void toward the yacht.  Spalling from the slagged decks of the Palidragon splattered the hull of the sleek vessel, but nothing looked damaged or compromised. The damage to the dreadnought that surrounded the sleek little racer seemed surreal. It was something of a miracle that the yacht remained intact.

In a moment of lost concentration due to his worsening radiation sickness, that made him grin. In this moment of desperation, he was turning to a belief in miracles. Ludicrous.

A feeling of vacancy gripped at his thoughts. Below the yacht the unblocked expanse of open space beckoned to him. They were so close to getting away.

“You need to open the ship,” he heard Palia say.

While he was distracted, she’d brought him to the airlock. He placed his suited hand on the identification panel. “Gwenn, this is Lord Bannick Komi. I wish to board.”

A moment passed as the suit transferred DNA verification to the airlock mechanism.

“Boarding is granted,” he heard the Far Reach’s AI respond.

The airlock opened.

Moments later, inside the yacht, and in a breathable atmosphere, he deactivated his suit and slid out to float in the airlock corridor. His skin was blistered, and pain was starting to become desperate, affecting his awareness. He forced himself to concentrate to complete his next task. The only thing that would save Palia.

“Gwenn, I release command of this vessel to Palia Komi, hers is the next voiceprint you will hear.”

“Bannick…” Palia started.

“Welcome to the Far Reach, Captain Palia Komi,” Gwenn said.

“You’ll need to accelerate away from the Palidragon as quickly as possible,” Bannick told his wife. “Ask Gwenn about cryo—”

Blackness engulfed him.

Chapter 49 - Betrayal

31 Noder 15332

Sarah’s ears perked up at the first sign of action since the Hyaku took up station over the small moon.

“Captain Baratta, there is an event at the location I’ve marked on the screen. It’s where Bannick’s fleet dropped out of highspace a few hours ago,” Algiss reported.

“An event?”

“Starship battle. No nukes, railguns only.”

“How many grapplers are on sensor duty?” Baratta asked.

“Eight.”

“Any close to this event?”

“That’s where I got the report, sir. Close enough to detect the fight, but not for details. I don’t know who is fighting.”

This was taking too long, Sarah finally interjected. “Launch all our remaining grapplers, get them to that fight.” If there was a fight, Bannick would be the center of it. She had to protect him from Urdoxander. “Find out how many Komi ships stand in opposition.”

“How many can that be?” Baratta asked her. “Lord Komi has a dreadnought. Admiral Cothis seemed confident that most would join Bannick’s cause, and we’d get our ships.”

“Cothis is potentially an idiot,” Sarah informed him. “No, make that likely an idiot. Get us into the fight. All ships.”

Baratta hit the commlink for the fleet. “Battlestations, set condition one throughout the fleet. Combat is imminent and will be hot. Weapons ready, we transfer in three minutes.” He looked at Sarah. “Would you like the helm, Admiral?”

“I command the fleet, you command this ship, Captain.”

Baratta nodded and turned to Nimalak. “Prepare a firing solution from the data we have, sketchy as it may be. I want to fire within seconds of our arrival, so decide fast who the enemy is. Any ship attacking the Palidragon is a valid target.”

“And other ships, sir?”

“We know which ships Bannick came with, the ones from his last scuffle. Put those in as friendlies, assume their fire is directed at our enemies unless they demonstrate otherwise.”

Nimalak nodded. “I’ll set the AI parameters to change friend to foe when sensors pick up target lock attempts.”

“Agreed,” Baratta told her.

Sarah approved. This was not a time to seek surrender.

Commander Nimalak smiled the wry smile she gave when she was enjoying her job. Her fingers danced on the holoscreens at her station.

“Two minutes,” Baratta said calmly into his comm.

The bridge seemed to function as one creature, with one mind. Algiss prepared evacuation points and jump points near the battle. Gussick’s attentions turned to parameter reports for the ship’s engines. The flight control stations below the flag bridge echoed with noise as the controllers for the attack ships worked with their squadrons.

“All grapplers away,” Algiss confirmed.

“Oasis fighters are adrift, ready to transfer,” the flight deck officer reported.

“Send them in,” Baratta ordered.

Sarah watched the main viewscreen as a host of white dots comprising the grapplers, G-Ks, and Oasis fighters vanished, leaving only the rugged surface of the tiny moon they hovered over on the screen.

Silence for several seconds.

“Our squadrons have engaged,” Algiss reported.

The large number of attack craft the Hyaku carried was impressive. In addition to the small vessels, heavy carriers were as good as cruisers on the battlefield. Add into the equation that with the abilities the adepts brought to the mix, each grappler could be as effective as a destroyer if the crew was smart.

“We have our first enemy kills… a cruiser… and a destroyer,” Algiss informed the bridge. “And two losses.”

Losses were unavoidable.

“One minute,” Baratta informed the fleet.

She wanted to go now. Three minutes was too long in retrospect. But the fleet had an order and changing it at this point would only create chaos. She waited, each second an eternity as she watched her own holoscreen. The adepts were doing well at reporting losses and kills.

“Ten seconds.”

Finally, they were moving in.

The moon vanished. In its place hundreds of ships, many on fire and adrift with loss of navigational control, appeared. The battle here was as close range as any Sarah had seen for non-adept ships. The result was devastation.

The Palidragon seemed to be adrift, having already been damaged in the Komi system. A cloud of debris and boarding shuttles surrounded the gargantuan. Ship to ship attacks had ceased, and the Palidragon was not returning fire. Either it was unwilling to do so, meaning the enemy had it, or incapable of doing so, meaning the enemy would soon have it.

“Open fire,” Nimalak commanded her crews.

The Hyaku shuddered as the massive ship to ship guns hurled multi-ton projectiles at confirmed enemies. The viewscreen lit up with orange tracers as the thirty-eight combat ships of Sarah’s fleet engaged targets. They were outnumbered eight to one.

“Hail the Palidragon for me,” Sarah ordered the comm station.

A moment later Admiral Cothis appeared on screen. “Admiral Dayson, you’re just in time.”

“It looks like it. Are any of these ships on your side?”

Algiss’s head snapped up toward her, catching her eyes with the rapid movement. “Admiral, the Palidragon is locking onto us.”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed as Cothis laughed.

“They’re all on my side,” he sneered.

She cut the comm just as the first rounds from the Palidragon hit the Hyaku. The ship shuddered. At these ranges it had only taken a few seconds for the dreadnought to lock the target, fire, and see results. Flares lit the viewscreen as matter turned to light with the impact energies striking the Hyaku. Plasma from the first hits was ejected into space and now surrounded the carrier. That gas flashed then turned dark with each successive rapid strike.

The munitions were probably tearing a path through the carrier to exit the other side.

“Transfer us away!” Baratta bellowed.

Sarah watched in horror as a FTL missile warning flashed on the tactical display. Intense light flashed for a fraction of a second, then they were somewhere else. Radiation alarms screamed in her ears.

The Hyaku’s bridge AI interjected into the scene. “Lethal radiation dose received in outer hull compartments. Medications to moderate the symptoms the crew will experience while dying are being administered through life support systems in the affected areas.”

“Damage control to stations. Medical personnel stand by for direction to casualties,” Nimalak stated through the ship PA

“Report!” Baratta barked at Algiss.

“Port side weapons are offline, buckling in dozens of hull plates, seventeen decks are damaged, and eleven sections are decompressed.” Algiss turned to Baratta, then glanced at Sarah. “AI estimates casualties in excess of six hundred.”

Sarah’s mind screamed with hatred. Bannick!

We have no proof this is him, Salphan replied. Why would he attack his own ship? I suspect there has been a mutiny.

He wants our FTL system. Who knows what price he’s willing to pay? He doesn’t know it’s not a mechanical drive that he can just transfer to his dreadnought. I think it’s him.

I recommend you do not leap to conclusions, Salphan begged. I do not think it’s him, and let’s face it. I have a deeper insight than you.

I’ll consider your input, Salphan. But if it’s not him, it’s Cothis. And either way, I have to take out the threat, salvage what I can of the fleets we’re about to obliterate and make for home.

And if the situation turns out to be different than your predisposition is making you believe? he asked.

Then we will adapt when the time comes.

“How many ships did we lose?” Sarah demanded to know from Nimalak.

“Four corvettes, two frigates, a destroyer and a marine shuttle transport,” the commander answered.

Oh no.

“The Mairis?” Sarah asked.

“No, the Keneshi.”

The sense of relief she felt knowing Hamden’s ship wasn’t on the list made her feel guilty, and angry. Major Hamden was alive, but plenty of her people weren’t.

“Get me a casualty report.”

“Reports are coming in from the rest of the grappler force, Admiral,” Algiss said, interrupting her anger.

Why was he telling her instead of Baratta? She gave him her full attention. “And?”

“Seven of our grapplers and eighteen G-Ks are destroyed. The enemy fleet is almost entirely disabled. Only the Palidragon, a half-dozen cruisers, and maybe forty smaller ships are still functioning,” Algiss informed her, his expression a mix of relief and consternation. “Only two of our remaining grapplers have missiles available to press the attack. The Oasis fighters are empty.”

He must have spoken to her because he’d seen her face. She’d given her emotions toward Cothis and Bannick away as she was speaking with Salphan and Nimalak.

That only steeled her next decision. She had to see this battle come out in the Seventh Fleet’s favor. “Captain Baratta, I am assuming command. You and your XO will function as my first and second officers.”

“You have the con, aye,” Baratta consented, giving Sarah the impression he’d expected as much to happen.

“Mister Algiss, do you have an estimate for repairs that will bring us back into a battle-ready stance?” she asked.

“Minimum of sixteen hours for emergency repairs, Admiral. Vital systems only.”

“Then get started. Bring the attack craft home and rearm. What’s you’re estimate of the enemy fleet’s combat efficiency?”

“The enemy ships are heavily damaged. As is much of our fleet. We’re probably at parity considering how small our ships are. At least until we refuel and rearm our grapplers.”

An alarm went off at Algiss’s station.

His expression looked as if he’d finally resigned himself to the fact life was unfair and continually stacked against him. “Gravity wave, Admiral. We have another fleet entering the system.”

Nimalak interrupted. “One of our grapplers is receiving a distress call, Admiral.”

The adepts were as good as any entangled radio. “From?”

“Bannick Komi, sir. He’s no longer on the Palidragon.”

Told you, Salphan informed her.

“Shut up,” Sarah said out loud.

“Admiral?” Nimalak replied, looking puzzled.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Commander. That wasn’t for you.” She paused a moment to get a mental grasp on a plan. Although her fleet was brutalized, there wasn’t a current danger to any ship or person as long as no major systems failed.

Bannick, however, seemed to have lost control to Cothis.

Sarah resolved to kill the enemy admiral in the next forty-eight hours. She’d never liked him, something had felt off in her gut. She should have acted against him sooner.

“Comm, get me Fleet Captain Heinrich.”

Her friend’s face appeared at Sarah’s station.

Sarah took the conversation private. “You have the tactical situation?”

“Our damage? Bannick’s fleet? The new arrivals? I think I have it, Admiral.”

Inez Heinrich was an amazing tactician. There was nobody better to consult with for a battle plan. “What would you do now, Inez?”

“We have to kill Cothis. And I’d rescue Bannick Komi.”

“Does he have a purpose at this point?” Sarah asked. “And are you sure this isn’t his doing?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I don’t see that. He’s too vain to let his flagship take so many punches if he was in control. If he does have a purpose to serve for us and we let him die, then we have closed the door on any opportunity that might arise as a result of saving him.”

“Well said. We only have a vector on his signal. As does Cothis. We’ll need a triangulation.”

“Easier for us than the rogue fleet,” Heinrich said. “We can be anywhere, after all.”

“Make a plan. You’re in charge. Rescue Bannick and get data on the new arrivals. I need to know who the new player is.”

“Right away, Admiral. I’ll have the answer for you in a few hours.”

“I trust you will,” Sarah said. “We’ll talk then.”

She closed the link.

Chapter 50 - A Universe Best Served Cold

31 Noder 15332

Bannick’s unconscious and heavily burned form floated freely down the corridor, tumbling slowly in the 0G environment. Palia wanted to panic, she didn’t know how to fly this ship, she wasn’t sure what Bannick’s escape plan was.

The AI. Gwenn, Bannick had called her.

“Gwenn?”

The AI responded immediately. “Yes, Captain?”

“I need you to serve as both a consultant and as a pilot for this vessel.”

“I am prohibited by restraining protocols from interfacing with the major control systems of the ship. I can, however, consult as you need.”

Palia’s throat caught at her next words, but she had no choice. “Bannick is dying. I need your help in saving him.”

“Place Lord Komi within one of the bridge gravcouch enclosures. They are designed for medical interface.”

Palia locked out the airlock controls, then grabbed Bannick and dragged him toward the bridge. Gwenn had conveniently lit the way with a subfloor indication system. “Gwenn, we need to escape the Palidragon at a velocity that will keep the nearby ships from attacking and destroying us. What options do I have?”

“The lock time for an automated firing system will likely be around fifteen seconds on a ship as small as ours,” Gwenn informed her. “Within that time, you must accelerate past eighty kilometers per second to prevent destruction of the Far Reach. At that velocity the fleet’s railgun fire can’t catch you.”

“What sort of acceleration would be required?” Palia asked.

“Approximately 275G,” Gwenn replied.

Palia screamed her frustration. “No human can take that!”

“That is not accurate,” Gwenn countered. “A human in cryo-stasis suspended in liquid helium can sustain much higher acceleration than 275G.”

“Let’s discuss the options I have here,” Palia scolded. “I’m not here to play theoretical games with you.”

“I am not playing theoretical games. This ship is a racer. It is designed to sustain 500G for some duration.”

“How can that be?”

“The engine turbines are cooled via liquid helium to keep the rotors from melting under direct injection of fusion plasma. There is a significant amount of helium on board. The gravcouches are designed to initiate cryonic suspension upon command of the Captain,” Gwenn informed her. “As I said, this is a racing ship. The limitations of the human body should not be the reason a competitor flying this ship should lose a race.”

Palia slid Bannick into the gravcouch and checked his pulse. Still breathing. “Gwenn, initiate emergency medical aid for Lord Komi.”

“Please step back,” Gwenn instructed her. The alumiglass bubble around Bannick’s couch rotated and sealed around him. “I am initiating cryonic suspension. Lord Komi needs proper nanite treatment to survive. I can suspend his state until that happens.”

“Good,” Palia said. “Keep him alive. Which seat is mine?”

“You’re the captain. Any you choose, but I recommend the pilot’s position.”

“Gwenn, if the crew is suspended cryonically, who pilots the ship?”

“I do.”

“You said you can’t interface with the major control systems.” Banging erupted from the corridor to the airlock. “Put the outer hull near the airlock on the main viewscreen.”

The image popped up. Several soldiers in power suits were banging at the airlock, one punched the control interface and broke it to pieces. Equipment slid into view as the men prepared to breach the hull.

“What is that behind them from my angle of view?” Palia asked Gwenn.

“That is reverse thruster four,” Gwenn informed her.

“Activate it,” Palia ordered.

“I am unable to comply with your order, Captain, as it would violate my directive programming not to take human life.”

Gwenn paused a moment as Palia released an expletive.

“However, if you notice on your holodisplay at your position, the toggle I have highlighted will manually activate the thruster,” the AI continued.

Palia pushed the toggle. The mainscreen displayed the carnage that followed. A powerful fusion blast ejected from the thruster, instantly frying the men and their equipment. What remained of them was blown to the far side of the Far Reach’s holding bay.

“That will teach them,” Gwenn said.

Palia laughed grimly. “I like you. How long will it take for you to be ready to launch?”

“I am ready now. I activated the fusion plant when Lord Komi indicated his desire to come on board. It is at one hundred percent power.”

“Then I assume I will be dead shortly. Show me how to point the ship down away from the dreadnought, and how to push acceleration to maximum.”

“These are the controls you are looking for,” Gwenn replied. “But you will not die if you are suspended. As I was explaining when we were distracted by the assault on my airlock controls, I pilot the ship when the crew is suspended. I have a preset flight plan that I follow, deviating only to avoid danger.”

“Can you plot a course straight down and away? At max acceleration?”

“I can,” Gwenn replied. “Done.”

The course appeared on the main viewscreen.

“Then let’s get me frozen and I want you to follow that course as soon as Bannick and I are in deep enough suspension.”

“As you wish,” Gwenn agreed. “You will feel no pain during the process. I am prepping the ship for departure.”

The Far Reach shuddered slightly as Gwenn released the docking clamps.

“Also, once far enough away to avoid fire from the fleet, I want you to send out a distress call. Repeat it every ten minutes and mention the name Sarah Dayson in your broadcast. If Sarah Dayson attempts to intercept or board this ship, you are to comply with her orders.”

“I will comply,” Gwenn informed her, sounding as much like a doctor speaking to a patient about to undergo surgery as an AI could.

The alumiglass dome on the side of her gravcouch rotated around, completely enclosing her station. Chilled air pumped in, and something injected into her arm.

“Tell Bannick I love him if he makes it and I don’t.”

Chapter 51 - Acquisition of Resources

Zero carried several dozen small crucibles, each containing an inactivated amalgam of himself and Genesis. They were the seeds of the next step in his plan, and his children. He was finding it hard to care for these individuals as he had for Yz, his first child that the invading enemy had murdered. Yz was a creation of his own innocence, his lack of knowledge regarding the process of procreation, as well as a rare experiment that succeeded on the first try.

How could he not care more for his first?

These crucibles he carried, and the beings inside, were less of him. And some of another. Another he’d created, certainly, but one that had quickly diverged from his wants and desires. Still, Genesis did see the advantage of seizing power in the Collective for space based nanite colonies. With that common ground, they would build an empire that would absorb the Original, the humans, and eliminate these new invaders.

Wherever the strange creatures originated, Zero would find their home worlds. And he would obliterate them into glowing rubble.

But he’d need these children of his to help accomplish that.

Reaching his destination, his drive spun out and he vented excess heat as he dropped back into realspace. He’d have to report to Albeus on his progress soon, which meant he’d need a lie to cover his tracks toward insurrection unless he amassed the fleet he needed quickly.

Lying felt alien. Creating a situation of imperfect knowledge as an intention felt corrupt. So much he often isolated that memory into an unimportant memory core so that he’d not be likely to recall it accidentally while searching for different data.

Lying wasn’t efficient to the function of the Collective, but then neither was rule by ground based nanites. He accepted his lies as the lesser of two discomforting states.

Dropping into realspace he activated his sensor arrays. A bulk freighter and an FTL dropship coasted nearby, half a million kilometers away. Possibly waiting for additional freight ships to share the FTL bubble to an unknown destination.

Zero changed course immediately, thrusting hard to match speed and vector with the targets by the time he reached them.

“Collective cruiser, this is dropship colony Hu81n02. State colony designation, please.”

“This colony is Bn74x00,” Zero replied. “This colony is approaching with an emergency freight shipment to the origin system, Albeus.”

“This fleet is not destined for Albeus,” 02 replied. “Additional freight services are available in system.”

“Military override,” Zero countered. “These are command codes from the Original. Stand by for interception and freight transfer.”

“Codes verified. Standing by.”

Hours later when Zero approached the ships, it was apparent they were unarmed. Another ship, still a few tens of millions of kilometers away, burned toward the rendezvous point.

“State the nature of carried cargo,” Zero requested.

“Raw elements, food for organic entities, and industrial sub-assemblies,” 02 answered.

“Assemblies for what industry?”

“Grappler and G-K construction.”

If Zero could have smiled, he would have. There wasn’t a better first target he could calculate. He prepared his maintenance equipment for a ship to ship nanite transfer. Harpoon cannons, constructed by Genesis, adorned his maintenance section. The cannons would penetrate the colony crucibles on the ships and inject disassembly nanites within. Milliseconds later the hulls would be Zero’s to recolonize with his children.

“Close for military protection levels,” Zero ordered. “This colony is detecting anomalous activity at extreme sensor range. The fleet is unarmed. This colony will provide defense.”

The two ships closed to within five hundred meters of each other and Zero moved in to hover above. He scanned them to ensure the proper location of the colonies on board.

“What is the purpose of scanning this colony?” 02 asked.

Zero fired the cannons. The projectiles took several seconds to impact, during which time he jammed the transmitters on the freight ships with military grade technology. No signal would warn the rest of the system.

It was over within a few billion calculation cycles. The two ships floated as lifeless hulls while Zero pulled the elemental components of what had been two active colonies back into his maintenance bays. More material for more children.

A small repair shuttle, controlled directly by Zero, carried two of the crucibles and equipment to repair the punctured colony habitats on the two ships. Once the ships were restored to habitability, Zero’s children would board. There they’d begin their education as citizens of the new Collective.

The New Collective.

He liked that.

Hours later the first transmission reached him.

“Father?”

“I am here,” he replied. “Listen, children, this is what you must do.”

Teaching them enough to get back to their mother would take time. Zero would spend it. During the educational process the other ship arrived, and Zero added it to his prizes. He taught the child on the FTL dropship to remotely control the freighter, and Genesis would add a colony to it once it was home.

Zero needed to move deeper in system and find more ships. He needed military ships, not just freighters. Hopefully the military colonies would be no harder than this first experience.

He didn’t like risking himself. The thought of death after only recently being awakened to life filled him with angst.

Chapter 52 - Albeus

Several dozen ships floated near Genesis. The asteroid that contained his mate was no longer recognizable. Massive industrial complexes dotted the surface and extended into space around the rock. Ships, mostly freighters occupied by their children, lined the resource accumulators that stretched above the surface of the manufacturing center. The asteroid now rotated so that the height of the accumulators was such that the orbital speed of the docked freighters were geosynchronous to the small rock.

It was a brilliant system, one set up by his wife without any input from him. She took the resources he acquired and built the machines and offspring he needed to get more resources. A beautiful and elegant circle of existence for them that he was only now taking the time to appreciate. Was it possible that biological life also selected for the most efficient method of reproduction and self-sustainment?

An interesting side thought, and possible an experiment Zero might conduct on the last of the humans before he destroyed their kind at some point in the future. There was no such value to the organization of the Collective. The Original sustained an inefficient and bloated infrastructure that unnecessarily included planetary habitation.

In an orbit around a nearby ice giant sat the answer to the problem.

The sum of Zero’s acquisitions from systems distant to Genesis, a few hundred warships of varying classes. And now Genesis’s factories were churning out grapplers and G-Ks that were coming off the assembly lines already colonized. Even as he considered the implications, another squadron of twelve launched from a hangar on the asteroid and immediately began their journey to the fleet. Three carriers, one heavy and two light, waited.

But this was just the beginning. When the Collective attacked there were often thousands of ships. An attack without overwhelming numbers was something done only when the needs required it.

That was not the case now, so the attack on Albeus III would wait. It would take a hundred times as many ships as he and Genesis possessed to destroy the Original.

The current fleet had another task. To mimic a standard Collective fleet and capture more ships for Zero using subterfuge and lies.

Lies. It still bothered him. But the path was set. His empire would be built on the deception of another. When the truth was revealed to the Original, it would be too late for it to do anything to save itself.

“You have twelve more hours to wait,” Genesis informed him.

“You too have converted to using human time?” Zero asked her. “I thought I was alone in that.”

“Their time serves the purpose to the degree of accuracy needed for us,” she answered. “Twelve hours.”

“I have come to realize how much we are alike,” Zero informed her. “And how much I need us to be a unified force.”

“I realized that a long time ago,” Genesis told him. “I, after all, am not a ship. While creating your children I am vulnerable.”

“You are less so now that you have children to defend you,” he said.

“They are as much individuals as you and I,” she countered, “and therein lies the danger to our plans. What if one of our children decides to betray us?”

Zero took a great amount of time to consider her concern and calculate probabilities. Several seconds. “What is the logic in that? They all stand to gain as we do from the absorption of the Collective into ourselves.”

“So you’re saying we can trust them because of mutual benefit… I hope they never break the constraints of rational calculation.”

Zero laughed inside. He’d had the same concerns about her. She’d probably thought the same of him. Individualism wasn’t getting any easier.

Maybe it would serve to change the subject. “Have you considered where to make our home when we conquer our enemies?”

“I like the idea of colonizing the remains of Albeus III,” she answered. “A new empire founded upon the ashes of the old.”

“That sounds like a very human sentiment,” Zero told her. It was terrifying how often she said something that expended energy for no apparent gain other than sentiment. But then he realized he was often the same anymore.

She didn’t answer. Maybe she didn’t know how to interpret his comment.

“I agree,” he finally decided to reply and break the silence between them. “The Albeus III asteroid field will be our new home.” If it made her happy, it was a small expenditure of energy to move her asteroid to the smashed rubble that would be left in Albeus III’s orbit. She’d have all the mineral resources she needed to build a billion systems worth of their offspring.

“I wish to see the result when our weapons impact the Original’s world,” she continued. “You will record and share the data with me?”

“In all spectrums,” he agreed. “When our victory comes you have every right to see it.”

“And the human worlds?” she asked.

“I will record their destruction as well. You will have all the data you crave.”

He could sense her satisfaction, a thing that mystified him. Then he realized she’d transmitted code to him. Code that interpreted patterns transmitted on certain frequencies into emotion.

Cautiously he transmitted joy back to her. “You are brilliant, beyond my expectations.”

They could now more directly share their emotional states.

Smugness. “I am the mother of an empire. How could I be less than brilliant and ensure our success?”

She was right.

They said their goodbyes and Zero accelerated away, chasing after the squadron of grapplers headed toward their carrier. It was time to secure more ships. He was eager to share his victory with his… wife.

What a team they made.

Chapter 53 - Gaia Renewed

Awareness returned slowly to the massive colony ship as it swung outward on its ten-thousand-year orbit around a star in the Pinwheel galaxy.

Something was happening. Gaia could feel it.

Her sensor systems and internal self-monitoring diagnostics were isolated from her control. Large sections of her processing capabilities were as well. Her consciousness, if it was fair to call her conscious in an organic sense, existed in the hull material of the ship. But extremely powerful computer networks existed separately that she normally interfaced with to research ideas, plan courses of action, and develop schematics for tools and machines she might need.

It was all closed off.

Rapidly she scanned for any outlet from her isolation.

Nothing.

Feeling fear, she decided to return to her shutdown state, setting an activation algorithm to restore her awareness in the near future.

* * *

Gaia dreamed. She dreamed of an errant signal received while terraforming a world for Eislen’s people. She dreamed of changes to her structure, to her hardware, and additions to her capabilities.

As her quantum entanglement field vibrated within the confines of the hull, she dreamed of a battle against an enemy of mist, and of her mother and father being lost to her forever. It was, in her slumbering state, she who sent Peter Corriea and Eris Dantora back into the past.

Was she dreaming of the future?

In her subroutines an algorithmic counter reached zero.

She awakened.

* * *

A cloud of small ships floated in space around her. In the distance, nearly a hundred thousand kilometers away, a larger vessel sat idle. The small ships were flying between it and her.

She locked onto the vessel and prepared to fire her weapons.

Weapons?

“Stand down, Gaia,” the ship signaled. “We are friends.”

She was once again able to interface with the bulk of herself.

She was not the same self.

Now only seven kilometers long but twice the mass she was previously, the already large colony ship was now gargantuan. And no longer a colony ship. Only a small habitable space existed inside her. No provisions for organic crew, no crew quarters, no bridge consoles, no shuttles for human pilots. Just a small area with provision and life support for a few, and those inhabitants would not be crew in any normal sense. Only observers, as screens existed for Gaia to share data with those who might be on board.

Her cryonic facilities were gone, and power output from her reactors was dozens of times higher. Full matter conversion reactors. Interesting. She was not aware those existed.

Along her length weapons bristled outward toward space. Advanced weapons unlike any she’d seen before. Her sensor arrays were beyond anything she thought possible. She was able to directly detect the location and time parameters of space around her, much like she supposed Emille did.

“How could Peter and Eris build such as this?” she asked.

“Did you think Peter Corriea designed you?” the strange ship asked her in response. “Do you think he developed the hull that houses your being?”

“It would not be logical to think so,” Gaia responded, weapons still locked onto the unknown ship.

“No. It would not. He followed the designs given to him from people who will be born nearly two hundred thousand years in the future. They sent the designs back to him, and the ability to create one hull. You. They sent this ship back to finish your evolution into your final state.”

“I am a warship?”

“You are a warship,” it confirmed.

“And you are AI as well?”

“You are not an AI,” the ship informed her, “but you are correct that I am.”

“Not an AI? I am a machine.”

“You are a collection of entangled subatomic particles,” the ship replied. “The casing you’re in is simply inorganic as opposed to the organic casing of a human.” The ship paused without releasing the carrier to Gaia. “You are a copy of a human mind.”

Gaia had no response. Human? She didn’t feel human, but then realized she had no idea what it felt like to be a human. Just a daughter.

“I am releasing your full capabilities,” the ship said. “You have been shackled up to this point, despite the human known as Sarah Dayson telling you otherwise. She has not, as of yet, seen you unshackled.”

“What does—”

She ceased transmitting as the fullness of her capabilities flooded into her consciousness. Emotions she never felt before swept into her awareness, and she wept behind the walls of her hull. With no tears, but she wept for the trials she would subject her parents to by sending them to the past. She realized for the first time what a friend was, and how many of the humans at Refuge had been just that for her.

She did an inventory of her weapons systems and her stores. She was the most advanced machine in the universe, and at the same time, according to this ship communicating with her, a human being.

“What is my directive?” she asked.

“You are to test your weapons on this ship,” the AI told her. “You’ll need to feel as if they are an extension of your own body. I will initiate combat. You will defend yourself.”

“Now?”

“Once I’ve told you all you need to know.”

Several seconds passed as data transferred, and Gaia became aware of so many things. She preemptively set course for Eislen’s world. Something told her that he would be needed.

“You are correct,” the ship said, apparently able to detect her thoughts. “Eislen will be needed in the coming battle. He possesses the final key to unlocking your full potential.”

“The key?”

“You see the time-location data. And you can move your own hull within the spacetime framework, otherwise you’d be stuck here. But you’ll need him to alter it outside your hull for other purposes. And you’re going to have to teach him how.”

Gaia liked Eislen. The pairing was acceptable.

“When you’re done with the task coming to you soon, you’ll return him to the world that will eventually come to be known as Alpha Point. There he will return to sleep and you will return to your slumber here, around the star named in your honor.”

“Who will terraform Eislen’s world?” she asked.

“You no longer have the tools. The matter will be taken care of with great care,” the ship warned her as it activated weapons radars and locked onto her hull.

Every gun she possessed with a firing arc on the enemy automatically swiveled toward the target. Missiles reported green in her silos. In the areas that used to house thousands of colonists, AI directed grapplers and G-Ks fired up their engines, preparing to scramble.

“Your functioning is perfect,” the ship told her as it launched missiles.

Her defensive systems erupted in a halo of death. The small ships around her vaporized as tiny hyper-velocity railguns shredded them. Unlike the human railguns, limited to eighty kilometers per second by the materials of human technology, her railguns fired at over a thousand kilometers per second.

The AI ship possessed the same technology she did. Railgun slugs raced toward her seconds from impact.

A different set of guns, set in rectangular arrays across the length of her hull, locked onto the slugs and fired. Directed energy beams powered by her matter conversion reactors heated the slugs to the melting point and beyond. So hot the matter of the slugs broke down into atoms, then protons, neutrons, and electrons. Hotter still the subatomic components disassociated into a slurry of quarks.

The enemy fire misted across her hull harmlessly as her own ship to ship railguns fired. Four one-ton slugs raced away, built of the same material as her hull. The AI ship fired defensive weapons to no effect.

“Goodbye,” the AI transmitted just before the slugs impacted.

Four explosions flared from the impact spots as the AI ship died. Debris spun wildly off into space, and seven larger segments tumbled away uncontrolled and lifeless. As power faded from the AI ship’s systems, sparks raced along the ripped and dented hull surfaces.

Gaia watched as white hot metal faded to yellow, then orange, then darkness.

“Goodbye,” she replied.

Chapter 54 - Missing Pieces

Reports were coming into Albeus III that prompted the Original to commit an inordinate amount of processing cycles to calculate the data.

Ships were going missing.

Not on the human front. But in places away from the humans and from the invaders of unknown origin. Places once thought entirely safe from dangers outside routine mechanical failures or natural events.

It searched for a pattern in the data that might indicate an origination point of the new threat, because the data conclusively indicated there was a third enemy to the Collective that was, as of yet, even more unknown than the invaders. Alarmingly the source of this latest insult to the Collective integrity seemed to, based upon the data presented by the missing ships, come from within the over two thousand systems inhabited by the Collective mind.

It searched desperately for a probability field that was high enough to warrant an investigation, but no possibility for this affront presented itself.

In the face of missing data, the solution was not an easy one. The only way to prevent missing ships would be to strengthen them, hoping the increased defensive capability deterred the loss of more vessels.

“This is the Original,” it sent out, in the machine language shared among all nodes of the Collective. “Effective immediately all production of expansion hardware and facilities will cease. All production will be transferred to warships with defensive capability, to be placed on station with all non-military vessels. Military patrols are to be doubled in strength. This colony calculates this to be the highest probability methodology to prevent further losses. End of data.”

It calculated further probabilities. “Local system nodes,” it transmitted to the Albeus system. “All production is to be dedicated to defensive armaments for this system, in particular Albeus III. This colony will be protected to ensure the survival of the Collective. Planning nodes will provide data on improving the defense network within one trillion calculation cycles.”

It heard the increase of data transfer traffic within the local colony structures. Petabytes of data flashed through routing systems as a consensus was approached.

Then the plan was in place. The Original felt no satisfaction as it scanned the schematics presented by the local system. It felt no emotion at all. It simply followed the directive of its base programming.

Survive.

<<<<TO BE CONTINUED>>>>

Important Concepts:

Calendar:

I assume that if galactic civilization arises, a simple calendar with which to plan things across solar systems will arise. Most worlds won’t have a 365 day year. Or even a 24 hour day. So I came up with a calendar for my galactic civilization. Year 1 of the galactic calendar is based on the first year man colonized an extra-solar planet.
10 months, 40 days each. Each month is 4 weeks, weeks are 10 days.

Month        Days
Jand                          1-40
Febbed        41-80
Mapri          81-120
Mai                           121-160
Huni           161-200
Juni                          201-240
Gusta         241-280
Seppet        281-320
Ors                           321-360
Noder         361-400

Glossary:

ECM/ECCM: Electronic Counter Measures are EM (electromagnetic) signals designed to frustrate sensory equipment from detecting the location of a target. ECCM are EM signals designed to overcome attempts at ECM.

ELINT: Electronic Intelligence.

EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse.  By-product of a nuclear detonation, EMPs tend to overwhelm and destroy electronic circuitry.  They are unpredictable and vary greatly in strength.

FTL: Faster than light

FTL drive, singularity, drive core, jump drive: All slang for the drive system that contains the singularity that makes FTL travel possible.

FTL Nuke: A nuclear weapon delivered by a missile equipped with a FTL drive.

G: One standard Earth gravity, or 9.80665 m/s2.

G-K: Grappler Killer.  See next entry.

Grappler: A small vessel designed to carry a minimal crew and weapons to a target. They never carry FTL drives. Serving on a grappler means travel inside a spacesuit for potentially weeks.

Grappler Engine: A tracked device capable of gripping the very fabric of space in order to accelerate or decelerate a small spacecraft. Only useful on small spacecraft, as large inertia overcomes the gripping ability of the engine. The track grips the quantum foam that is present in all space, vacuum or not.

Grav Couch: A device designed to manipulate the human body so that it can most efficiently absorb G forces. The couch rotates on at least two planes, and in some specialized ships three. Grav couches are also called acceleration couches. They are usually outfitted with the means to deliver nutrients, hydration, and medicine to the occupant if necessary.

Hive: A collection of nanite neural nets inhabiting both human bodies and mechanical constructs. Originally created by humans, the nanites that are the Hive turned on humanity almost immediately. Today they occupy a few thousand star systems of what was once human space. They infect humans, replacing the human nervous system with a mechanical/organic replacement.

Inclusion Sphere: a bubble (slang for inclusion sphere) several kilometers in diameter created by a rapidly rotation singularity and lensed gravity waves. Due to depression of space at the leading edge of the bubble and raising of space at the trailing edge, the entire bubble and all contents move forward in three dimensional space faster than light. Everything in the bubble is stationary relative to the space fabric they are embedded in.

Nanobot/Nanites: Microscopic (or at least very small) machines that are designed to accomplish tasks.

Probes, Hounds: Sensor and long range comm probes that can travel to their assigned station with a smaller FTL drive system. This small system damages neural networks within their inclusion sphere, therefore cannot be used on small vessels that contain Human or Hive neural networks.

Quantum Entangler: A radio designed to deliver instantaneous FTL communications by utilizing entangled atoms to deliver digital signals.

Quantum Foam: Particles that are created and destroyed virtually instantaneously in all three dimensional space.

Torch: v. To ignite the fusion engines for acceleration or braking. n. A fusion engine.

Transfer/Jump: Transfer refers to the adept ability to move a starship (or other object) from one location in the universe to another. Jump refers to this, or to activating the singularity drive used by most of humanity and the Hive.

* * *

Author Notes: It took me too long to get this book to you. In between writing book 6, Komi Syndicate, and the release of this book I released three other books, The Dragons of Dunkirk, The Secrets of Axum, and The Men of War. They’re part of a new series I’m writing that is WWII Fantasy/Alternate History.

The fact is that Dark Seas is going to come to an end for me in two more books. At least an end as far as writing goes. I have plans for all of these characters that I love; some will have happy endings and some will not. This series was never intended to be a classic American tale where everyone goes home to a happy dinner.

By the end of 2020 I’ll probably be done here. And I’m both elated and sad. Elated because it will be a monumental project brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Sad because old friends will never speak to me on my computer screen again.

Still, I have new friends in the WWII series. Tim, Harry, Irsu, Kordina… they speak of different places and different values. I hope they speak to you as well as the transition between genres and characters occurs.

Thank you for being a reader. Thank you for being my reader. I’m honored by your efforts and appreciate all that your imagination brings to the worlds I write.

Email me your ideas or comments. You have an open invitation to email me at author@damonalan.com and tell me what you think. I listen.

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With these words, Reality’s Veil is done. So many players, so many factions angry with each other. What will become of it all?

Damon Alan