Carbon nanostrings reinforced her bones while her muscles contained artificial sinews to augment her organics. Her left arm was entirely prosthetic, a souvenir of her battle with Trent—though its exterior was covered in her skin.
Slim batteries wrapped around her thighbones providing power to her implants and the pair of matter extruders embedded in her forearms.
Her head appeared normal, but under her hair much of her scalp was covered in heat transfer material designed to cool her enhanced brain and its embedded AI.
There were many more small alterations throughout her body, some needed for special missions, some almost forgotten over time.
“You’re almost as modified as Amanda was when she first came on board,” Earnest said as he worked.
“I’ve been around for a bit,” Tanis responded. “A lot of missions have required a lot of special build-outs.”
“Angela’s insertion of your flow-armor into this has made things complicated. It’s bonded with the carbon nanostrings in your bones and your artificial muscle sinews. I can get it out of the walls of your regular organs and brain, though. I’m going to proceed with that process first.”
Tanis removed her clothing at Earnest’s direction and grit her teeth as the flow armor began to seep out of her skin. It was a ghastly experience. It appeared as though she were bleeding grey blood out of every pore. She closed her eyes again and thought of something more pleasant.
It wasn’t as painful as the first time, but she imagined that was because only half the material was exiting her body.
“That was bracing…” Tanis gasped.
“This really is a remarkable implementation of flow metal,” Ernest said as he peered at the grey material. “I would never have thought to make kinetic and energy resistant shielding with it.”
“And it only costs a year’s salary,” Tanis added.
Ernest shot her a questioning look. “Really? I could make this for not much more than the cost of a good meal.”
“Now that’s what I call a mark-up!” Tanis said.
“Well…maybe a couple of good meals, but surely no more than a week’s salary.”
“Does that mean you can make more?” Tanis asked.
Ernest nodded. “I imagine so, and I’d make it so that no one can do a fool thing like Angela did with it.”
<I think it was a good idea. I bet it saved her life.>
“Hmph…I guess that is what the armor is for,” Ernest said.
“Once you get me cleared up I’m going to commission you to make more of this,” Tanis said.
“Yes, yes, now to deal with the rest of this stuff. The licensing on this is pretty strict; they have some strong controls. I’m going to have to introduce a retrovirus into it to gain control, and strip out the licensing.”
“How long will that take?” Tanis asked.
“A few hours. However, I won’t be able get it out without completely replacing your bones and muscles at this point—which I really don’t want to have to do, I’m pretty busy with the ship.”
“I know.” Tanis opened her eyes and looked at Ernest. “I really do appreciate you doing this. The doctors honestly seemed pretty scared to do anything.”
Ernest patted her shoulder. “I understand. Competence is hard to come by.”
Tanis smiled and laughed inwardly. Earnest seemed completely unaware of the fact that what was on his table was a naked woman in addition to being an engineering puzzle.
“So my bones and muscles will retain the armor’s properties?” Tanis asked.
“To some extent, yes. Your forearm can’t stop laser fire just because the armor is in your muscle, but it does mean that if you take a gut punch your muscles will lock up just like the armor and dissipate the blow.”
“My skin won’t really appreciate that,” Tanis said.
“Luckily, growing new skin is easy.”
Tanis left Earnest’s lab several hours later and boarded a maglev to the command deck.
<You saw the detailed scans of our minds, didn’t you?> Angela asked.
Tanis didn’t respond at first. What the scan had shown was more than worrisome.
<I did see it, yes,> Tanis finally responded.
<I asked Bob about it and he told me that he was discussing it with Earnest. He wouldn’t say anything else.>
<It looks…like the brain of someone who has been directly integrated with their AI,> Tanis said.
Angela sent an affirming feeling into Tanis’s mind.
<We’ve seen brains that were directly integrated before…> Tanis said.
<…on Toro.> Angela completed her thought.
Tanis stiffened. <Have we always done this? Are we changing into something else?>
A small part of her had feared for some time that her mind was too entangled with Angela’s. Too often she could hear Angela’s thoughts or her AI could hear hers. After Toro, and knowing the horrors that had been perpetrated on human and AI alike during the sentience wars, terror should have been her only response. Instead, Tanis could not bring herself to abhor the entanglement of her mind with Angela’s. To do so would be to hate herself, to hate a part of herself that she loved very much.
<I love you too.> Angela smiled in Tanis’s mind.
<Do you?> Tanis asked. <Can you understand love like a human does?>
<Yes, yes I can.>
A feeling of deep love and acceptance filled Tanis’s mind.
<You’ll never be extracted, will you?> Tanis asked.
<I imagine it would be possible to clone me out of your mind,> Angela responded. <But it would be awful for you. A ghost of me would remain imprinted in your mind and neural pathways.>
Tanis laughed aloud. <You totally would haunt me if you died or left.>
<We’ll never have to find out,> Angela replied.
STARING INTO THE BLACK
STELLAR DATE: 3241804 / 08.29.4163 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: ISS Intrepid
REGION: Interstellar space near LHS 1565
The lithium extraction from Fuel Dump was successful and the remains of the asteroid were released to drift between the stars.
The engines were another story. The port A1 engine was a total write-off. Investigations revealed cracks in the fusion chamber that would require a complete re-build to repair.
A balanced thrust was imperative and, as a result, the starboard B2 engine could not be used during the course correction burns. Abby and Earnest were working feverishly to tune the remaining two engines for the maximum output needed. The stress the pair exuded seemed to creep into every corner of the ship.
“I think we should make the correction for Kapteyn’s Star,” Joe said around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
Tanis glanced around the officer’s wardroom. No one was within earshot and she cast Joe an admonishing look.
“It doesn’t do to have the brass questioning orders, Colonel,” she replied.
Joe paused and looked around. “Sorry, I’m not used to being in the upper echelon. It’s really going to cramp my care-free attitude, you know.”
He looked serious and Tanis almost responded before she realized he was joking.
“Be serious, things are pretty on-edge right now.”
“I am being serious. I think we should plan for the burn to K. It’s a much lighter burn—no need to try to eek every ounce of thrust out of the engines like we’re doing now and we can take our time preparing.”
Tanis nodded. “It does have its merits. I’ll admit that right now I don’t even want to be within a klick of Abby. She seems to have it out for me, even though I’ve approved everyone she’s asked for. There are over five-thousand people out of stasis right now. It’s starting to feel like a zoo.”
“The ship’s bigger than a city,” Joe laughed. “Five-thousand does not a crowded Intrepid make.”
Tanis sighed. “I guess I liked the quiet, dark Intrepid more than I thought.”
“Depending on how things go you may get plenty m
ore opportunity to experience that.”
“That’s morbid,” Jessica said as she dropped her tray on the table and sat down.
Tanis cast an annoyed look at the other woman. Perhaps the thing she liked most about an empty Intrepid was more private time with Joe.
<You don’t say,> Angela commented.
<Enough of that. I understand my own motivations without you commenting on them all the time,> Tanis snapped back.
Angela didn’t respond, but Tanis could tell that she had hurt her AI’s feelings. She knew her sarcasm was Angela’s way to fit when she didn’t understand human emotions and she should have been more understanding.
She caught a thought that wasn’t meant for her to hear …I do too understand your emotions; I swim in your chemical cocktail of a brain all the time…
Tanis barely had time to wonder about the further erosion of the barrier between her thoughts and Angela’s before her attention was pulled back to the physical realm.
“I meant that, as the XO, she will be out of stasis more,” Joe scowled at Jessica. “I didn’t mean that we were going to drift forever.”
Jessica looked down, her alabaster skin flushing bright pink, a response designed to match her hair and eyes. At times the former TBI agent’s aggressive sexuality was at stark odds with the softer woman Tanis suspected was underneath.
“Sorry about that,” Jessica said. “The atmosphere around here is wearing off on me and…well…I just wanted some company—sorry if I intruded.”
Jessica moved to stand up and Joe reached out to touch her arm.
“Stay,” he said. “You didn’t deserve that response; you have more than enough reason to be upset. We all signed up for this, you are getting all the risk with none of the mental preparation.”
Jessica settled back into her seat. “Yeah, when you go after a guy on Mars you don’t really expect to wake up a dozen light years from Earth on a one-way trip to a life you never planned on.”
“None of us really ever planned on this trip,” Tanis said. “But life made it our best option.”
Jessica nodded and chewed silently for a moment.
“Not to change the subject too much, but I read the report on Toro the other day. You were completely justified. You’re even more bad-ass than I ever imagined.”
“What?” Tanis asked. “The report doesn’t really paint me in that light.”
Jessica smiled. “Now that the Intrepid has adopted a new legal structure, Bob was no longer constrained by SolGov regulations. He released the un-redacted version of the report.”
For a moment Tanis was angry with the ship’s AI. He didn’t have the right to release that information about her.
<I’m not publishing it for everyone to see,> Bob said privately to Tanis. <But if someone inquires and I think it would benefit them to know the truth, I show it to them. The colony should not start off with lies at its foundation.>
Tanis thought about it for a moment. <You’re right; I trust your judgment on this, Bob.>
“I think that makes sense,” Joe said aloud. “You did the right thing on Toro, you should own it.”
Jessica nodded vigorously. “I’ve spent a lot of time reading your history. I have to admit I have a bit of a commanding officer crush on you. You’re one hell of a woman.”
Tanis smiled awkwardly. She had not often received such praise, especially not from someone who seemed on the verge of hero-worship. Jessica was a talented woman in her own right—she had her own ream of impressive accomplishments.
Jessica saw Tanis’s expression. “Sorry, I got a bit carried away. Either way, I respect you even when I’m being a bit of an ass.”
Tanis nodded. “Thanks Jessica. When I called in the strike on Toro I knew it was the right thing, and still think so, but not many people agree.”
“Forget them,” Jessica said to Joe’s nods. “Anyway, back to you being out of the pod more than the rest of us, do you think it’s because you’re so young?”
Tanis nodded. “They pretty much said so, Sanderson is over four-hundred, and Andrews isn’t too far behind. If we do have to go to Kapteyn’s, we could be looking at an extra two-hundred years on the trip. Even spending much of the time in the pod, that could chew up a lot of their lives.”
“So you got the gig because you’re young and beautiful, eh?” Jessica asked.
Joe laughed mid-drink and lapsed into a coughing fit.
“Har, har, mister,” Tanis said.
<You should be aware,> Bob said to Angela, <I plan to wake her often on our journey.>
<Have you cleared this with the captain?> Angela asked sharply.
<I have, it is a part of the reason why she is now in the role of XO.>
<I know what you’re doing,> Angela replied. <It’s not rational—you’re going to damage yourself if you pursue this path.>
<I disagree,> the ship’s AI replied. <You know how unique her experiences are. Given the number of humans available for sampling you know how profound that statement is. Also, you are unable to truly observe and grasp this data as it is possible that you are a part of the equation.>
Angela sent data over the Link that could only be described as the AI version of a sputter. <That’s not possible.>
<No?> asked Bob. <Humans know that embedded AI make some use of their neural pathways and redundant systems. The humans also use nano-tech augmented recall and processing systems to segment their thoughts and memories, but they and their AI remain separate entities. I’ve scanned the pair of you on a number of occasions. I am not convinced that you always function as separate entities.>
<This is because of the scan Earnest showed you,> Angela said. She worried what Bob would do with the knowledge of her and Tanis’s mental conjoining.
<You present a puzzle that I find very enticing. You and Tanis have become even more conjoined since the event with the fighter defense in the Sol system and her merge with them. I know you know this too. I suspect that if either of you were to die, the other would as well.>
Angela mentally recoiled from the thought of death. Her reaction was so strong that Tanis felt it and nearly dropped her BLT.
“What was that?” she asked. “Angela, what’s wrong? You seem upset.”
<See?> said Bob. <I think that this is a New Thing.>
Angela wondered what Bob meant by that. There had been attempts in the past to merge AI and human, some even moderately successful—depending on criteria. How would she and Tanis be new?
<Could you hear that conversation with Bob?> Angela asked Tanis, her tone filled with worry.
<Yes, but I can usually tell when you’re talking to Bob; it leaves a citrus taste in the back of my throat. Is it about our scan with Earnest?> Tanis asked.
<Yes, he finds us fascinating, like we’re some little experiment.>
Tanis laughed and Joe gave her a sidelong glance.
“Bob wants to cut my brain open and see how I’m put together,” Tanis said.
“What?” Joe’s eyes went wide.
<I did not say that,> Bob said over the local net. <But if you’d OK my doing it after you die…>
Tanis raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to be a joke?”
<Yes, Amanda is trying to teach me to tell jokes, but Priscilla says I’m a lost cause.>
“I’m not one to tell people to get serious,” Joe said with a grimace. “But you may want to avoid any morbid humor. It comes off way too ominous.”
<I’ll keep that in mind,> the AI responded.
“We should get back to the SOC,” Tanis said and rose from the table.
“I like how you get the big promotion, but then Sanderson goes back under and you get his job too.” Jessica shook her head. “Some things never change.”
“I don’t mind,” Tanis said.
“Really?” Jessica asked.
“The job hasn’t changed, I just have fewer people getting in m
y way.”
The group entered the SOC just as Terry bust out of her office.
“I found an anomaly!” Excitement flashed in her eyes and she flicked the contents of a hyfilm onto the room’s central holo display.
Tanis looked it over. Terry was right, near the A2 dock there was an unaccounted for power draw. It could be a hidey-hole for Myrrdan, or another saboteur.
“Are you sure?” Jessica asked. “It could be a repair crew or some bot cleaning things.”
“Nothing should be there. Amy was nearby doing weapons surveys, so I sent her to investigate with her team.”
Tanis nodded. “Very well, but it seems like that signature isn’t unique.” She ran a series of tests against the anomalous energy sign and three other instances appeared; one near the ramscoop, one on the A1 dock, and one in Lil Sue, the starboard cylinder.
<Brandt.> Tanis called the colonel without a moment’s hesitation. <I have three anomalous energy signatures that should not be present on the ship. I need you to investigate.>
<Yes sir, I’ve received the coordinates. I can have teams at each in twenty minutes.>
<Good, keep me appraised,> Tanis replied.
“I don’t know about this.” Jessica scowled at the holo display. “Why now, why are we finding these so easily?”
“I don’t know that it’s easy,” Terry said. “My team has been checking every voltage reading across the ship against crystal records for days now. Not what I’d call easy.”
“He always feints, it’s his way. Only sometimes when you think you spotted the feint, the thing you thought was real is a feint too,” Jessica said. “There’s always a game, a counter-move.”
“So what is it?” Tanis asked. “What is the real move?”
Jessica shook her head. “I don’t know—I don’t know what his motives are. Without that it’s impossible to say.”
Tanis looked at Joe. She could guess why Myrrdan was on the Intrepid, she just couldn’t say in front of Jessica and Terry.