“I’m eager to see what that will look like when it activates,” Admiral Manda said as the ring began to take shape.
“You won’t have long to wait,” Tanis replied.
She was less interested in the ring than the pinnace which departed the Long Night, and began to boost toward the I2. That pinnace carried a Shadowtron device and the specifications on how to make more.
Finally, after centuries, they would be able to scour the ship for any last trace of Myrrdan and eliminate him. Along with any of the Caretaker’s other minions.
That would be a greater victory than any they’d won thus far.
WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS
STELLAR DATE: 10.27.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Ol’ Sam, ISF I2
REGION: Orbiting Silstrand, Silstrand System, Silstrand Alliance
“You’re sure you got this from here?” Sera asked for the third time.
“Yes!” Tanis laughed. “I’m over a hundred years your senior. I can take care of myself.”
“Bob?” Sera looked up at the roof of Tanis’s cabin. “You’ll watch over Tanis?”
<What am I? Interstellar dust?> Angela asked.
“You’re as bad as Tanis, most of the time,” Sera replied. “I can’t trust either of you to keep the other out of trouble anymore.”
<I’ll keep Tanis and Angela on their path,> Bob intoned when Sera finished speaking.
“That’s not what I asked, Bob.” Sera’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the cabin’s ceiling. “ ‘On their path’ and ‘safe’ are not the same thing.”
A strange sound came into their minds, like a waterfall mixed with rolling thunder.
“Is he…laughing?” Sera asked.
Tanis shrugged. “I guess so. I can’t remember the last time I heard Bob laugh like this.”
“What gives?” Sera asked the ceiling once more.
<To think that even I could keep Tanis ‘safe’. You place more faith in me than I deserve, Sera Tomlinson.>
“I always feel like you’re one of my childhood teachers when you use both my names like that.”
<Is there some other way I should use both your names?>
Sera groaned. “Wow. You think you’re funny, is that it, Bob?”
“You know,” Tanis lowered one eyebrow while raising the other. “I think I’m a very safe person these days. The last dangerous thing I did was rescuing you eighteen years ago, Sera. Since then I’ve been nothing but circumspect.”
“Tanis, you assaulted the Galadrial just half a year ago, with Uriel and a Marine strike team.”
“Right! Perfectly safe. I had ISF Marines with me.”
Sera groaned. “This is not making me feel better.”
Tanis leant over and placed a hand on Sera’s arm. “Seriously, Sera. It’s you I’m worried about. I have the most powerful starship in the galaxy, Finaeus, and Bob. Honestly, I think that Finaeus should go with you. You need allies.”
“I have Greer; he’s loyal, and from his latest QuanComm messages, fiercely determined to make sure there’s no repeat of the attack on Keren Station.”
“And Krissy seems to be faring well in Vela,” Tanis added. “Are you still at least considering moving the capital there?”
“Maybe. I need to visit at some point. Chancellor Alma has not been fully accommodating to Krissy. Understandable, I suppose. She views herself as terribly important, and Krissy, while part of the—” Sera held up her fingers to make air quotes “ ‘royal family’, Alma considers her to be too far from the throne to garner real respect.”
“You’re going to have to visit a lot of places out there to drum up support.”
“Maybe…. Oh! Guess what, Tanis? This came in on the latest burst from Khardine. Guess who escaped from prison…freaking months ago?”
“I hate guessing games, Sera, spit it out.”
“Sera. You’re killing me here. I only know one—wait…no! Andrea?”
“Hole in one.” Sera grimaced, then rocked her head side to side, stretching her neck. “My dearest, least-favorite sister. You’ll never guess who broke her out.”
“You’re right, I won’t. Just tell me.”
“Justin.”
Tanis’s eyes widened. “As in Justin, your old boss, the former director of the Hand?”
“One and the same.”
<Allies or enemies?> Angela asked.
Sera gave an exaggerated shrug. “You got me. If it was Justin on his own, I’d say ally. He’s probably less than happy about how he had to fall on his sword for me, but if it were just him, I know we could figure out a way to work together.”
“Andrea’s a whole different story, though,” Tanis said, her voice trailing away as she remembered her last encounter with Sera’s sister in the Ascella system.
“Yeah, she’s not a fan of yours either, what with the whole ‘turning me to kill you’ thing that happened.”
“So we have to assume that, because Justin freed Andrea, he has a plan for her. A plan that can’t be good for us.”
Sera began fiddling with her hair, fingers twitching violently as they twisted the long, black locks. Tanis watched, moderately amused as Sera’s skin began to change from blue to red. Then it took on the scaled appearance it had when she had masqueraded as a dragon-demon at Diana’s costume ball.
“Is that conscious, or is that a new stress response?” Tanis couldn’t help but smirk at her friend.
Sera glanced down at herself. “Oh, shit! No, not conscious at all!”
“It’s not the first time I’ve noticed it,” Tanis said. “Last time you talked to Elena, you were full-on harbinger of death when you came back.”
“I was?” Sera asked.
“Yeah. Maybe you should add a block to stop your skin from taking this form at all.”
Sera held up a hand and examined the long claws on the end of her fingers. “Or maybe I’ll just make this my default. Think it would help or hinder negotiations with future allies?”
Tanis lowered her face into her hands and shook it. “Sera, how are you the President of the most powerful alliance in humanity’s history?”
Sera didn’t reply, and when Tanis looked up, her friend was just grinning as she clicked her nails together. When their eyes met, Sera asked, “Yeah? Think we’re the most powerful?”
<Of course we are,> Angela interjected. <We have us.>
Sera’s skin reverted back to the blue ‘uniform’ she typically wore. “True, I suppose we do.”
Tanis looked at the ceiling. “Bob, I blame you for this. Why did you have to give her this skin?”
<Humans’ natural epidermis is weak and ineffectual,> Bob replied without pause. <What I gave Sera—especially now that Finaeus has integrated the flow-armor into it—is far superior. It provides a multitude of tactical advantages, and constant protection. You’d go through fewer hearts if you adopted it as well.>
“See!” Sera crowed. “My epidermis is superior. Bob agrees.”
<It’s true,> Angela added. <Sera’s fashion proclivities aside, her skin is highly advantageous. If for no other reason than the protective properties, and her chameleon ability.>
“I can change my appearance,” Tanis countered.
<A bit, but not like her. She can fit in anywhere.>
<Humanity’s continuing infatuation with clothing is strange to begin with,> Bob added. <Sera’s desire to turn herself into a mythological creature actually makes more sense to me than the regular clothing people wear.>
“This is not the way I was expecting this conversation to go.” Tanis leaned back and sighed. “OK, Bob, why is it that Sera turning herself into a demon-dragon thing is more rational than regular clothing?”
<Well, clothing is generally unnecessary for humans, now that you’ve mastered your environments. Maybe it is needed for completely unmodified humans living on planets, but otherwise it’s sup
erfluous. It consumes a lot of resources and general effort, it seems.>
“People like to express themselves through clothing,” Tanis replied. “And some people like to hide their bodies.”
<Regarding your second point, that no longer makes sense. Everyone has perfect bodies, maintained in whatever form they want. If they feel ashamed of who they are, that shame is likely a representation of something unhealthy in their minds. Military uniforms are useful for showing a common bond. I suppose you organics may need to have other external expressions of commonality, but it doesn’t require clothing, per se.
<Which brings me to my first point. Sera’s epidermis is far more capable of expressing herself. In fact, I would argue that Sera’s desire to turn herself into whatever strikes her fancy, is far healthier than what most humans do, which is try to hide what they are, and blend in.>
“This is not the first time I’ve heard this argument,” Tanis said. “I know that Sera just loves to be whatever she wants to be, and isn’t mentally unstable—it makes sense for her. However, a lot of people, even though they can look perfect, don’t feel perfect. If they were to costume themselves, they would do it to blend in, and it would end up being the same for them as it is now.”
<I can’t fix every problem organics have, nor should I. I’m simply stating that Sera’s behavior is a logical end-result for a well-balanced person who also likes to be visually and tactilely stimulated. No human would argue that things of beauty are inherently wrong, so no one could say that what Sera does with herself is wrong.>
Sera leaned back on the sofa and gave Tanis a smug smile. “Gotta say, Bob. Never thought that you’d back me on this—also never thought of myself as that mentally well-rounded, but I’ll take the compliment.”
<You misunderstand me, Sera,> Bob said. <I did not mean to imply that you were the pinnacle of mental health. I just said that in this respect, what you do—your free expression of self—is healthier than what most do. The fact that your expression of self is a demonic being, typically associated with vengeance and destruction, contains its own message.>
“Annnnd my moment of victory is over.”
Tanis laughed. “I’ll take the win.”
<I’m sorry, Tanis, you still lose. Your value to your people and humanity is tremendous. The advantages that Sera’s epidermis provide should—to my mind, at least—outweigh whatever nonsensical hesitations you may have surrounding replacing your organic skin with something more practical.>
“I think we both lost in this conversation,” Sera said, winking at Tanis. “Though it was a nice distraction from what’s coming our way.”
“Right, and from Andrea and Justin.”
“Tanis! I had managed to forget about them for a moment.”
Tanis shrugged, her expression unapologetic. “You really can’t. You’ll need to find them and determine what they’re up to.”
Sera’s lips flattened out and her eyes widened in frustration. “Transcend is a big place, Tanis. Big enough that half of it probably doesn’t know my father is dead yet. They could be anywhere, behind the scenes, manipulating things. Justin has contacts everywhere. If he’s out, he could be subverting agents I had previously considered loyal to me.”
“You need to build your own base, then,” Tanis replied. “What about the families on Valkris, where Nadine is from?”
“Helping the families on Valkris is a lot like arming my enemies. I mean…they’re not enemies now, but what happens when we win this thing? They’re not the sort that help maintain the peace.”
Tanis leant over and placed a hand on Sera’s knee. “Sera, there are two billion stars within the human sphere of expansion. There will never be peace everywhere. Not so long as humans are humans.”
“That’s a sad way to look at it.”
“I don’t need everyone to be happy, I just need them to stop trying to kill everyone else that doesn’t agree with them.”
Sera laughed. “Oh, just that little thing, eh?”
Tanis gave a short laugh and returned Sera’s smile. “It’s what we’re doing, isn’t it? Stopping Orion, securing a real peace in the Inner Stars? We’ll be done by lunch, right?”
“Don’t get carried away, Tanis. It might take ‘til breakfast tomorrow.”
“OK, I’ll make sure I make some time in my schedule for it.”
“You do that.”
The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Tanis lost in thought, considering her next moves. She assumed Sera was doing the same, since she wore her customary thinking scowl.
“Have you decided where in Praesepe you’re going after things wrap up here?” Sera eventually asked.
“Well, I want to find out more about what happened in Genevia—the tech they used in their mech program is just too similar to what Peter Rhoads used to control his people. If there’s a lead on the Caretaker there, I want to find it.”
“Are you thinking you can use the device Earnest made to take it out?”
“The Shadowtron? Yeah, that’s my hope.”
Sera laughed. “What a badass name. No idea if it has anything to do with how the thing really works, but badass nonetheless.”
“I guess it has something to do with shadow particles.”
“And ‘tron’?”
“I imagine it must do something with electrons.”
“I guess that makes sense, most tech does use electrons. Still a badass name.”
Tanis nodded. “Gotta admit that I like how Earnest made it look like a gun, too.”
“Sure doesn’t hurt. I assume Finaeus is making more?”
“Yeah, he has a team on it. They’re also working on a way to enable the ship’s internal sensors to run the sweeps shipwide. Would save us a lot of cat and mouse.”
“And then you’ll finally catch your little mole.”
Tanis let a feral smile slip over her lips. “Indeed, we shall. We’ll sweep your ship before you go, too.”
“Right! Which of your tiny surplus vessels shall become my flagship?”
“Do you want the Long Night?” Tanis asked. “Right now, it just has a shakedown crew aboard, but we can get it properly fitted out and crewed up. I bet that half the captains in the fleet would love to get their hands on it.”
Sera nodded appreciatively. “With the exception of Rachel.”
“Yeah…I don’t think I’ll be able to pry the I2 away from her under any circumstances.”
“Not unless you make something bigger.”
“Maybe not even then. This girl’s pretty special.”
“Yeah,” Sera nodded, looking around Tanis’s cabin as though it were the whole ship. “Even in Transcend and Orion space, there are probably only a dozen ships older than this one—if we’re counting the date the keel was laid, not service years.”
Tanis patted the sofa. “That’s right, don’t be calling my girl old!”
“So, Praesepe for you, and Khardine for me. And if you find more leads on the Caretaker?”
Tanis honestly had no idea what would follow. “We’ll see how fresh and promising they are. Nadine suggested we find her cousin Nerischka. She worked some missions in Genevian space around the end of their war with Nietzschea.”
“That’s right,” Sera nodded. “Made a few ‘tweaks’ to the upper military echelon. Got rid of the admirals that wanted to keep steamrolling over more nations. If memory serves, Nerischka’s in the Azela system, tracking down the source of some weird bio-mods.”
“That’s what Nadine said, as well.” Tanis reached for her coffee cup, only to find that it was empty. “Damn…I don’t even remember finishing that.”
“Still catching up with sleep, eh?”
“I guess. No rest for the weary, right?”
“That’s what I hear,” Sera replied. “So you’re just going to hunt the Caretaker for a bit around Praesepe? Seems like an unproductive use of your time.”
“Well, we have a few leads. But if they don’t pan out, we’ll cut our losses. I have a de
sire to knock the teeth out of the Nietzschean Empire, but I also have a date with the king of the Trisilieds. I think that his neck would look great with my boot on it.”
“Not ready to forgive and forget yet?”
Tanis’s brow lowered. “I think after about ‘never’ I’ll be ready. Don’t worry, though, I’m going to exhibit restraint and not raze their capital world to the ground. However, I will do something that completely debilitates them. They earned that much.”
“How are we going to deal with stuff like that?” Sera asked. “Destroyed nations that we leave in our wake. We can’t kill everyone, and we can’t leave them there to rebuild.”
“That’s where the allegiances come in.”
“If we can build them faster than our half-dozen enemies attack us.”
“Oh, is that how few we have?”
Sera shrugged. “Depends on how you divide them up.”
<Anywhere between seventeen and…thirteen hundred,> Angela supplied with a grin in their minds. <You should make them start a registry, or something.>
Tanis summoned a view of the galaxy above the coffee table, then focused in on human space. Closest to her was the Perseus arm, then Orion, and the Sagittarius Arm was up against Sera’s knees.
“Last we heard.” Tanis pointed at a marker close to Sol. “Jessica and team have moved on from Virginis. She said they formed a solid allegiance there—which I bet pisses off the Hegemony to no end.”
Sera leant forward, placing her elbows on her knees and chin on her folded hands. “Yeah, the AST used to run a lot of black ops in Virginis. Getting kicked out by a bunch of AIs must really burn their cookies.”
“Which means they’re on to Aldebaran.”
Sera shifted, rubbing her palms across her face and through her hair. “Stars, good luck with that. I don’t even know how they’ll get in the system.”
“That’s why we sent them,” Tanis replied. “Sure, there are humans on Sabrina, but it’s almost entirely an AI ship now. If anyone can pull it off, it’s them.”
“Stars, I hope so. We keep giving them all the shit assignments.”