2c: White and Green
I allowed a short burst on the manoeuvring thrusters to rotate the spine of the ship towards the moon’s atmosphere. Without the protection of the Warships wake I was vulnerable, I had to disguise my lines within the magnetic field of the moon. The body of the ship was about three kilometres long; a thin black shard with the Braine drives a silver and yellow snake coiled around the entire length. I glistened in the reflective orange glow of the gas giant, suddenly I melted from view as the graviton field was activated, curling the light around my body.
My main control room was awash with controlled anger. It splashed around like a toddler in a paddling pool. The usual smooth white surfaces were throbbing blue, my anger spilling out into the environmental sub routines. Even the usually calm Mage, Tryune Ballack, was rustling his long arms, his domed head butting against the ceiling.
“What happened Harley?” Guyil was still cleaning his nose, his shinny metallic voice cutting through the air. I had long since given up guessing his original sex. He could have communicated with me directly but this was a conversation the whole crew needed to have. “What’s the situation?”
“I don’t know.” My voice hung in the air. Some Embedded ships had several Essentials, sometimes in various guises. I was quite partial to the one I had. “The monkey cut the link.”
“What, why?” Jared was pacing the foreground, the shards of silicon that protruded from his body scraped and jarred with each other.
“I was in danger. C-specks, cute ones too, I think I was about to get captured, or complete an amazing, seat of your pants, escape.” The final three members of the crew were humans, a tall dark man by the name of Haleiwa Bell, a diminutive, stocky redhead called Elysia Hubbard and a tall, thin brunette called Angel. “Though judging by the lack of response I would go with the former.”
“What about Marvin?” Elysia was sulking in the corner, her red hair wrapped around her neck. She was a bitch but the best navigator I had ever known. Judging the jumps through Braine worlds took a certain type of intelligence. Computing power was not enough; it was an art not a science.
“Gone. Run away to daddy.” Tryune was beginning to worry me. I had been reluctant to bring a mage on board but Guyil had insisted. “Though someone on board must feel sorry for us, I got an unauthorised info packet before they jumped. Never liked the guy, anyone who goes for all black must be a bit weird, and then he has the nerve to take the name Hue? Moron.”
“So what does it say?” Haleiwa slid over to perch on the central consol, his biologically augmented arms rippled.
“It says sorry and …” One of my observation drones flashed red down its link. “Great.”
“What?” I ignored Jared’s protests, instead projecting the picture the drone had fed me onto the wall. It was of a small white speck against the dull orange background of the gas giant. Amplified a few times the unmistakable outline of a human female swam into view.
“Looks like Marvin left more than an info packet.” Haleiwa was already making his way towards the airlock. “Pick her up Harley.”
“It is safe?” Guyil asked my through his comms link. I scanned the body. How she had lasted so long in deep space was worrying but there were no EM signatures, not even a detection chip.
“Looks that way.” I replied. “Though I am nervous.”
“What have we got to lose?”
Exactly, I thought, what? I wondered how long it would be before the Sanctum sent a few, more intelligent, warships to contain me. Not long. I needed options, besides the though that someone was willing to drift in space on the off chance I had deployed observation drones, that I was in this vicinity at all, fascinated me. I launched a tug drone to bring the girl in.
My main control room was awash with controlled anger. It splashed around like a toddler in a paddling pool. The usual smooth white surfaces were throbbing blue, my anger spilling out into the environmental sub routines. Even the usually calm Mage, Tryune Ballack, was rustling his long arms, his domed head butting against the ceiling.
“What happened Harley?” Guyil was still cleaning his nose, his shinny metallic voice cutting through the air. I had long since given up guessing his original sex. He could have communicated with me directly but this was a conversation the whole crew needed to have. “What’s the situation?”
“I don’t know.” My voice hung in the air. Some Embedded ships had several Essentials, sometimes in various guises. I was quite partial to the one I had. “The monkey cut the link.”
“What, why?” Jared was pacing the foreground, the shards of silicon that protruded from his body scraped and jarred with each other.
“I was in danger. C-specks, cute ones too, I think I was about to get captured, or complete an amazing, seat of your pants, escape.” The final three members of the crew were humans, a tall dark man by the name of Haleiwa Bell, a diminutive, stocky redhead called Elysia Hubbard and a tall, thin brunette called Angel. “Though judging by the lack of response I would go with the former.”
“What about Marvin?” Elysia was sulking in the corner, her red hair wrapped around her neck. She was a bitch but the best navigator I had ever known. Judging the jumps through Braine worlds took a certain type of intelligence. Computing power was not enough; it was an art not a science.
“Gone. Run away to daddy.” Tryune was beginning to worry me. I had been reluctant to bring a mage on board but Guyil had insisted. “Though someone on board must feel sorry for us, I got an unauthorised info packet before they jumped. Never liked the guy, anyone who goes for all black must be a bit weird, and then he has the nerve to take the name Hue? Moron.”
“So what does it say?” Haleiwa slid over to perch on the central consol, his biologically augmented arms rippled.
“It says sorry and …” One of my observation drones flashed red down its link. “Great.”
“What?” I ignored Jared’s protests, instead projecting the picture the drone had fed me onto the wall. It was of a small white speck against the dull orange background of the gas giant. Amplified a few times the unmistakable outline of a human female swam into view.
“Looks like Marvin left more than an info packet.” Haleiwa was already making his way towards the airlock. “Pick her up Harley.”
“It is safe?” Guyil asked my through his comms link. I scanned the body. How she had lasted so long in deep space was worrying but there were no EM signatures, not even a detection chip.
“Looks that way.” I replied. “Though I am nervous.”
“What have we got to lose?”
Exactly, I thought, what? I wondered how long it would be before the Sanctum sent a few, more intelligent, warships to contain me. Not long. I needed options, besides the though that someone was willing to drift in space on the off chance I had deployed observation drones, that I was in this vicinity at all, fascinated me. I launched a tug drone to bring the girl in.
posted by M D Richards at 9:18 AM
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