“Yes, we may have to do just that.” Tanis considered where they could send their escort, the Derringer, next.
“If the Marauders have moved on from Albany, then we should go to the Hercules System,” Oris advised, providing one possible answer to Tanis’s unvoiced question. “They have a training facility there—recently established. They may know where the general is, currently.”
“Ma’am!” the Comm officer called out a moment later. “I’ve stripped the beacon. STC has record of an MSS Foehammer. It entered the system a week ago and was headed for the planet Hudson in the inner system. No record on this nav beacon of it leaving the Albany System after that.”
“General Mill’s flagship,” Oris said with a grin.
“Finally!” Tanis grinned at Captain Sheeran. “We can have our chat with this General Mill and learn what we need to know.”
Sheeran shared Tanis’s smile, then turned to his bridge crew. “Comm, pass the tokens we were given by the PM to the system STC and set a course for Hudson. See if you can find anything out about where the Foehammer might be berthed.”
Tanis wondered where this lead might take her, if it was a lead at all. Following the Caretaker backward through its various actions may not guide them to any place other than where the entity had been in the past. Perhaps she should turn her focus solely toward stopping Nietzschea. Once she found additional allies. There was still something about the Septhians that didn’t sit right with her.
<Either way, Nietzschea must be stopped,> Angela said, her tone almost weary. <Despite your early reservations about Prime Minister Harmin, he does seem dedicated to that goal.>
<Sort of. Praesepe wants to build walls. They’ve been bolstering defenses, when they should have been rapidly expanding their fleets. Despite the fact that they’re mercs, these Marauders seem to have the right idea. Be mobile, strike the enemy when and where they least expect it.>
<Sure, then maybe we can put this Mill in charge of the right resources to get the job done. If his actual tactics are as good as his ability to hide in his own backyard, he’ll be quite the asset.>
Tanis couldn’t argue with that logic. Hopefully Mill lived up to the reputation.
“Admiral?” the comm officer asked. “I got a response from a local STC NSAI just a few light seconds out. It says that it never received authorization codes to match ours. We’re being denied entrance to the system.”
Tanis blew out a long breath and turned to Oris. “Well, time for you to do your job. We need to be insystem yesterday. Please work with Comm to sort this out.”
Oris nodded, walked over to the Comm station, and bent her head toward the display.
Tanis made a sound of exasperation in her mind. <Maybe we should just drop a jump gate, fly to the heart of the Nietzschean empire, blow up their capital, and then start our search from there.>
Angela gave a mental nod of agreement. <Well, I’ve wandered into the STC NSAI’s beacon, you know, very cordially—>
<Right.>
<And the Foehammer is docked at a station called Judine. It’s in high orbit around Hudson, so there’s that much good news, at least.>
Tanis pulled up the data they had on the world. It was a smaller terrestrial world, right around Mars’s size and mass. It was interesting that the ship wasn’t around the regional capital world of Pyra, but then she saw why.
“Whoa! The Nietzscheans attacked this system just last year.”
“Yes,” Oris nodded from where she stood next to the comm station. “They were repelled by a combination of local forces, the Marauders, and our SAF fifth fleet.”
“I see,” Tanis said aloud, while commenting to Angela, <That would have been nice to know. If I’d realized that the Nietzscheans were already making advances into Septhia, I might have been more forgiving.>
<Those Marauders sure seem to be popping up a lot. I’m reading news feeds about how they took out a despotic empire anti-spinward of here, called the Politica. It was using a lot of Genevian mechs, too.>
<That’s very interesting.> Tanis nodded as she looked over the feeds Angela had pointed out. <Looks like Oris was right about the training facility in the Hercules System, though. The Marauders are setting up shop on a planet called ‘Iapetus’.>
<I guess if the General isn’t on his ship, that will be our next stop.>
Tanis reached back, pulling at her ponytail. <It’s been nearly a year since we left Scipio. I really did not want to spend this much time before dealing with the Trisilieds.>
Tanis could sense that Angela wanted to say something, but was considering her words.
<Spit it out, Angela.>
<I know we have a bone to pick with the Trisilieds; they killed a lot of people at New Canaan. But they’re not actively expanding their borders. The Nietzscheans are a larger threat to this region of the Inner Stars. I don’t think we should just bolster the Nietzschean’s enemies, I think we should take them out entirely. Ourselves. I bet if we do, the Trisilieds will reconsider aggressive action—especially with Scipio attacking the Hegemony. At the very least, they’ll be less likely to aid the Hegemony.>
Tanis chewed on Angela’s advice. She knew that the Nietzscheans were a clear and present danger, but every time she thought about not taking the fight to the Trisilieds….
<I sent Ouri to her grave,> Tanis replied quietly. <I put her down on Carthage with barely any protection.>
<This is going to sound cruel, and maybe it is, but you send a lot of people to their graves, Tanis. And you didn’t leave Ouri hanging alone. Brandt was nearby, and she had an entire fleet of submarine nuke launchers, and a whole planet’s defensive capabilities.>
<Sometimes…sometimes it’s all I can think about, the faces of those I’ve killed, and those I’ve failed to protect. Parents burying their children—or worse, never knowing what happened.>
<What could you have done differently?> Angela asked. <You’ve never acted out of self-interest. You’ve always made the decisions needed to protect those who are under your charge.>
<Don’t you ever think about just leaving?> Tanis asked. <Get a jump-capable ship, and head to the far side of the galaxy? Leave this mess behind us.>
Tanis could feel Angela’s comforting presence grow in her mind. <What of Joe and our daughters? What of the children of our friends who would be left at risk?>
<Why do you think I’m still here? Trying to track down this stars-be-damned Caretaker so that I can put an end to its meddling? Find out what it knows about the Core AIs. Find out how we can destroy them.>
<Then you’d better buck up, Tanis, because we have a long road ahead. Honestly? What we’ve been through so far is just the beginning. But don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll always be with you, backing your play.>
Tanis drew a slow, steadying breath. <Thanks, Ang. You really have a way of depressing the shit out of me and building me up at the same time.>
<It’s a skill.>
“Admiral Richards?” Comm called out. “We have managed to get permission to take one cruiser in, but they won’t allow both passage. I imagine if we get in touch with something other than this f—stupid NSAI, we can get an exception made.”
“How far away is the closest sentient?” Tanis asked.
“Nine light hours, round trip.”
“So we could be looking at days before we get approval for both ships.” Tanis straightened her back and looked to Captain Sheeran. “Captain, take us in at whatever max speed they allow in this place. I’ll let Mel on the Derringer know that she’s to wait for us out here.”
“Aye, Admiral. Setting a course.”
Tanis glanced at Oris, who was still talking with the NSAI at the Comm station. She considered saying som
ething to the woman, but decided not to.
There was a BLT with her name on it in the officer’s mess, and more conversation with Oris was bound to sour her stomach.
<Getting so testy in your old age,> Angela laughed as they walked off the bridge.
Tanis snorted. <Pretty sure that’s your mind bleeding into mine.>
<Hmm…maybe. Getting hard to tell.>
UNEXPECTED GUESTS
STELLAR DATE: 08.13.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: ISS Andromeda
REGION: Edge of the New Canaan system
<What is it?> Joe asked, rubbing his eyes and pushing himself to a seated position. <Are the girls OK?>
<Sorry, sir,> Major Blanca, the Andromeda’s XO, apologized. <Your daughters are fine. I’m alerting you about a ship that’s just appeared at the edge of the interdiction field.>
Joe resisted the urge to give the major a snippy comeback. Ore haulers from the Grey Wolf Star were jumping in every day, along with couriers from Khardine. For all their hopes at secrecy, New Canaan was practically a bustling hub.
Then the second part of her statement hit him. An interdicted jump. That meant the ship was not jumping on a predetermined schedule, and had been caught in the system’s defenses.
<Go on, Major.> Joe sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.
The long search for the remnants had worn him and his daughters down, but now they were taking the entities to a special detainment center outside of Canaan Prime’s heliosphere.
That arduous task was almost complete. Whatever this was couldn’t be a patch on extracting extra-dimensional entities from human hosts.
<Well,> Major Blanca began. <You’re never going to believe this, but it’s the Voyager, sir.>
The major’s voice was filled with excitement, but Joe couldn’t determine why. Voyager, he mused. The name was familiar.
<Major Blanca, sorry to be obtuse, but I’m still in dreamland here. Can you refresh my memory?>
<Sorry, sir. It’s just so hard to believe. Voyager, as in the escape ship left behind in the Gamma base at Kapteyn’s Star.>
The memories flowed into Joe’s mind like water pouring down his back. Voyager. The ship Tanis insisted they leave at Kapteyn’s Star, ‘Just in case Katrina has a change of heart’.
<Blanca…> Joe almost didn’t want to ask. <Is it her?>
<Yes, sir! We have an initial transmission. She’s a bit worse for wear, but it’s Katrina.>
“Hooooleeeee shit!” Joe whispered as he flung his blankets aside and grabbed the uniform he’d draped over his chair the night before. <Direct that ship to meet us. I’ll be up on the double.>
<On it, Admiral,> Major Blanca replied.
OK…so maybe this is on par with capturing remnants.
Joe dressed quickly while pulling up the scan data. The Voyager was just over a light minute from the Andromeda. Based on their current speed, it would take Katrina’s ship half a day to arrive, but that would give him plenty of time to catch up with her—even with the communications lag.
He looked at the optical pickups that were tracking the Voyager, marveling at how it barely looked the same. Scuffed and scratched, mismatched hull plating across its port side, and a dozen cargo pods attached amidships.
“What have you been up to, Katrina?” he whispered.
<I hope she didn’t draw it out too much,> Corsia said, a warm presence in his mind. <Blanca was so excited, I let her share the news.>
Joe laughed. <It was fine. Just shocking. I keep expecting to be woken and told that the remnants are free, taking over the crew.>
<Don’t worry, I’d blow the ship before that happened,> Corsia replied.
<Stars, Corsia, there are a few contingencies before that one.>
Corsia only laughed, and Joe shook his head. Motherhood had softened the once hard-as-steel AI a lot. Somewhere along the line, she had developed a strange sense of humor.
As he was walking to the Andromeda’s bridge, Joe pulled up the latest transmission from the approaching vessel. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of Katrina.
She looks so old, what’s happened to her? And how did she find us here and now, arriving by jump gate, no less?
“New Canaan, and Carthage,” Katrina laughed and shook her head. “I appreciate the irony. Troy’s altering vector, we’ll get there as fast as we can. Got a lot to catch up on.”
Yeah, a lifetime from the looks of it.
Then the name Katrina had spoken sank into Joe’s mind. “Troy?” he whispered aloud before sending a message to the approaching ship.
<Voyager, this is Admiral Joseph Evans. Stars, it’s the best thing ever to hear your voice, Katrina, but did you say ‘Troy’?>
<It can’t be…> Corsia’s mental tone was a whisper.
He sent the message off as he stepped onto the bridge, nodding to Major Blanca as she grinned like a fool. His brow furrowed as he wondered why she was so happy, but then it dawned on him.
“Blanca! I can’t believe I forgot! Katrina is your great aunt.”
Blanca nodded vigorously. “Great-great, actually, but who cares? Can you believe she’s alive?”
“With Troy, no less.” Joe nodded in response, feeling a bit silly as he and the major bobbed their heads at one another, but not caring in the least.
With all the struggle the last year had seen, he’d take any good news he could get. As far as he was concerned, Katrina and Troy arriving now was like a message from the ancient gods.
“But it can’t be that Troy,” Major Blanca said, twisting the long white braid that hung down her back. “He…he died at the Battle for Victoria. Three RMs hit the Excelsior. We all saw it.”
Joe shrugged. “Did you ever expect to see Katrina again?”
“Well…no, sir.”
“Then let’s hold onto hope a bit longer. Troy is one of our greatest heroes. Having him back….”
His voice trailed off, and Blanca nodded silently.
Joe saw that the three ensigns on bridge duty were staring at him and the major. “OK, you, keep on task. No bets on whether or not the Old Man can shed a tear.”
The ensigns spun about, and Blanca laughed. “It’s already up to a hundred cred—no, two hundred. Damn, that pool’s growing fast.”
“I need plausible deniability here, Blanca,” Joe chuckled. “Don’t ruin that for me.”
“Oh, I was talking about the price of a piece of art at auction I’m following, sir. No idea what you’re talking about.”
Joe nodded. “Good, I hope you win.”
Blanca snorted. “Odds—I mean bids—are too rich for my blood.”
<She’s lying,> Corsia said, a wink in their minds.
They had only a minute longer to wait until Katrina’s response came back, and Joe put it on the main holotank.
Seeing Katrina at life-size was both less and more shocking. She still held herself erect, her eyes sharp and her measured smile giving her the same wry look he remembered so well.
But her face bore creases telling of many long years, and her hair was silver—not an affectation, either. Most of all, the difference was in her voice. It sounded tired and thin, though there was a joy in it.
“Admiral Joe now, is it? I seem to remember a cocksure young commander glued to Colonel Tanis’s side. Well, now that I think back, I suppose you were a colonel or something yourself before you left. I forget some of those specifics.
“And yes, it is that Troy with me. Would you believe he was just hanging out down on Anne’s surface, taking a break while we did all the work?”
“I remember it a bit differently,” Troy’s voice came from the holo, as dry and sardonic-sounding as ever.
“Troy…” Joe whispered, shaking his head.
“You’re one tough hombre,” Corsia added. “I recall you getting blown up.”
Troy laughed. “I got better.”
“You are some hard sonsabitches to find,” Katrina said with a coarse laugh. “Sorry, you’re g
oing to have to pardon my language. I’ve fallen in with some less-than-savory types over the years. I’ve become a bit more colorful as a result.”
“And by a bit, she means a lot,” Troy interjected audibly.
“We have a lot to talk about, but why don’t we wait ‘til we’re just a few light seconds away. My mind wanders too much with this much lag to have a meaningful conversation.”
“Otherwise known as her senior moments,” Troy added. “Is the I2 here? Bob?”
Joe opened the channel and sent a response. “I look forward to chatting more when you get closer, Katrina. Troy, I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you. You know we held a funeral for you? Anyway, Tanis and the I2—interested to know where you’ve heard that name—are not here. Bob, of course is with them. Couldn’t pry him from that ship with a black hole. At present, they’re in the Silstrand System. We can chat more about all that when you arrive.”
He closed the transmission and met Blanca’s eyes, which were brimming with tears.
“Good thing they weren’t betting about me,” Blanca said with a small laugh.
“Gotta get some steel in your spine, there, Major. Let me know if anything changes. I need to put on some clothes that smell better, and get some grub. I’ll be back before an hour is out.”
* * * * *
A half-dozen other issues cropped up before Joe got back to the command deck, and when he did, the Voyager was within a few light seconds. He reached out, making a direct, though delayed, Link connection to Katrina, glad to feel her amber presence touch his mind.
<Joseph Evans,> Katrina said in greeting. <So you’re in charge now, are you?>
<I do a bit here and there,> Joe replied. <Jason’s the governor, though. He hid in the woods for almost twenty years, but we finally convinced him to take the reins.>
A rueful laugh came over the Link. <I don’t blame him. You recall that I took over at The Kap for a bit. Then they wanted more structure and a bigger government. Named themselves the Kapteyn’s Primacy—though I suppose you remember that. Most of it went down before you left.>